Category Archives: Cakes

Strawberry Cream Confetti Cups!

Posted on December 26, 2016 by Ruthanne

Nothing says “Happy New Year” like confetti!!! These cakes, baked in cups, have confetti in every fun bite!

Confession: I am a confetti addict. I LOVE it. I don’t mind vacuuming it up for months after New Year’s Eve- at all! A few years ago we piled as much confetti as we could on my ceiling fan blades and at midnight we turned on the fan. Ah— SO much fun!!!! You should totally try it. As a side note… on Cinco de May0 we also piled little candies on the fan and turned it on. We called it a “FAÑATA” !🙂 It hurt a little…but the memories!!!

Someday I want to be in Times Square on NYE…mainly for the confetti, but this year I will celebrate at my dad’s, and I have serious doubts about the level of confetti at our party…but he reads my blog, so maybe he will be inspired by my ideas! (*hint *hint dad…!)

Whether your party includes real confetti or not, these cups of cake will add some edible confetti to the celebration! Plus the strawberry and cream flavors… oh my.

Here’s how we made them: (printable recipe here)

INGREDIENTS: (makes 12-16 cups of cake, or 24 cupcakes)

One boxed strawberry cake mix (plus water, oil and eggs to make according to package)
2 cups (seriously- or more…) confetti sprinkles
2 sticks (1 cup) salted butter, softened
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
3 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons of clear vanilla
A little white food coloring to brighten up the frosting (if desired!)
12-16 (8 oz.) party cups. I got mine at Target in the dollar section, but there are all sorts on Amazon- like these. (or make these as cupcakes with polka dot cupcake liners!!)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350F degrees and place cups on cookie sheets (preferably the sort with edges, to prevent sliding!)
Make cake according to package.
Mix in a cup of confetti sprinkles, and spoon batter into cups, filling them about 1/2 full.
Bake according to package directions for cupcakes- but add a little extra time since they are bigger, and test with a toothpick. When it comes out clean, they are done!

*Note: I was a little uncomfortable baking in these paper cups- so I kept a constant eye on them. I’m not sure if they can burn- I suppose it depends on the cup- and I read about people who made cupcakes in Starbucks coffee cups and just did it with no problems. Please be careful though- and use your good judgement about baking in paper cups. If you have any hesitation, use cute cupcake liners instead!😉

Remove from oven and allow them to cool completely.
Make frosting by combining butters, powdered sugar and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Beat on high until very light and fluffy (about 4-5 minutes). Add white coloring if desired.
Scoop frosting on top of each little cake and then press the frosting into a bowl filled with confetti sprinkles to coat the top completely.

My thoughts: These are a delicious and pretty way to say “Happy New Year!!!” I hope you love them as much as I do!!!

Other fun New Year’s treats to make for your party! (click on a photo to see the recipe)

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Caramel Pecan Cup of Cake!

Posted on November 19, 2016 by Ruthanne

Take a plain cupcake and turn it into a layered work of art this Thanksgiving!

Everyone loves those beautiful layered trifle desserts. This recipe creates individual layered desserts. Aren’t they fun?? I used butter pecan cupcakes with yummy caramel sauce, pecans and homemade butter cream frosting. They were delicious! You can use this idea with literally ANY combination of flavors though! Get all the flavors of a “filled” cupcake- but SO much easier to assemble!

Plus, you can wrap them up in cello bags with pretty fall ribbon and ties for an elegant holiday dessert!

Can you tell that I enjoyed taking pictures of these!?! Here is how we made them (printable recipe here):

INGREDIENTS: (Makes 24 cups of cake!)

Cake:

One boxed cake mix (plus oil, water and eggs to make according to package). I used Betty Crocker’s Butter Pecan cake mix. It was AMAZING!!!!!!!

Caramel sauce:

32 unwrapped Kraft caramels
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

Buttercream:

4 sticks of butter (softened)
3 cups of powdered sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla
You will also need 4-5 pecan halves per cup- and small clear Solo cups!

DIRECTIONS:

Make cake mix according to package and bake in 24 cupcake tins as directed by box (spray the pans with non-stick spray if you don’t use liners!). Cool.
Make caramel sauce by placing caramels, butter (1 stick) and sweetened condensed milk into a saucepan.
Melt over stove, stirring constantly, until caramels are entirely melted and smooth.
Cool and place in a zip-top bag.
Make buttercream by placing 4 sticks of softened butter, powdered sugar and vanilla in a large mixing bowl.
Use hand mixer to beat on high for 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy.
Place frosting in a zip-top bag that has been fitted with a decorating tip. Set aside.
To assemble, cut a cupcake in half. Pipe a little bit of frosting into bottom of cup and press cupcake bottom in cup.
Clip a corner off the bag of caramel and pipe along edge of cup on top of cupcake bottom.

Press pecans into caramel along edges
Pipe a little frosting between pecans (only use a little- mine had a touch too much icing in the middle- you could even skip this step and just have frosting on the bottom and top)
Place top of cupcake on, pipe a little more caramel on top of cupcake, and pipe a swirl of frosting on top.
Add a pecan and decorate as desired. I used cute icing leaves by Wilton that I found at Michael’s.

You’ll want to wrap these up or put them in an air-tight container to keep them fresh. I chose cello bags and ribbon ties- and they made me smile🙂 These stay fresh for 3-4 days when covered.

My thoughts: These got RAVE reviews. Personally, I thought they were a little sweet and I wished I had used less frosting (plus I ran out of frosting with 3 to go!) so use a little less than pictured (or make a little more…if you really like frosting!!) One of my friends HIGHLY recommended crumbled bacon as a layer in these🙂 The GREAT news is that you literally can add anything you want to make these into your family’s favorite dessert! Enjoy!! ~r

Other yummy pecan and/or caramel treats here on Easybaked! (click on a photo to see the recipe)

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Posted in Cakes, Candy, Cupcakes and tagged butter pecan cupcakes, buttercream icing, cake in cups, caramel, caramel sauce, cupcakes, cupcakes in cups, individual dessert, individual trifle, layered cake, layered dessert, pecans, thanksgiving, thanksgiving dessert, trifle. Bookmark the permalink.

Fall Marshmallow Cakes

Posted on November 3, 2016 by Ruthanne

These delicious little chocolate cakes are filled with creamy sweet marshmallow, and decorated to make everyone at your fall table smile!

I’ve been craving HoHos lately. Do they even still make those? Seems like Hostess went out of business awhile back…? Anyway- or those Little Debbie Swiss Cake Rolls. Both of those desserts remind me of high school lunches. My friends and I would sit at lunch, peel them apart in layers, and talk about boys and such while we ate them.

Anyway… so I started thinking about a way to do a grown-up version of these flavors. My friend Angie gave me SUCH a fun pan- it makes little cakes with a cavity in the center that holds filling. See what I mean HERE. I’ve used these pans before here on Easybaked and they seemed perfect for this idea. Instead of topping cake with cake—- I topped each cake with a thick layer of chocolate glaze that was decorated with chocolate transfers.

I love how they turned out! This was my 1st time using transfers, and they are a little fussy- but the wow factor….!!!!!

Mmmm……!! So there is some special equipment to make these exactly like I did (cake pans, silicone molds to make the top chocolate layer). If you hate to purchase the pans and chocolate mold, make these as cupcakes. Fill them with marshmallow and pour the glaze over the top. Or make this as a layer cake maybe- with the marshmallow in the middle and the glaze drizzled over the top?

However you choose to make it, the flavors are wonderful together!

Here’s how we put these together. (Printable recipe here)

Ingredients (makes 8 mini cakes)

Cake:

1 chocolate cake mix (plus water, oil and eggs to make according to package)

Filling:

2 cups marshmallow creme
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup powdered sugar

Topping:

2 cups chocolate chips
12 tablespoons of butter
1 large (12″x16″) chocolate transfer sheet (here is where I got mine)

Directions:

Start with the chocolate toppers. To add a chocolate transfer on top, cut 8 circles in a 4 inch diameter. I traced the pans with a marker and the cut the transfer just inside the line. Place the smooth side down and the rough side up inside a 4 inch silicone cake mold (I got mine here, in the medium size).
Place chocolate chips and 12 tablespoons of butter into a microwave safe dish and melt in 30 second increments, stirring between until smooth.
Gently spoon chocolate over the top of each transfer until it is covered completely.
Freeze for about 20 minutes- until completely hard.
Gently peel away the silicone mold, leaving the chocolate. Keep this chocolate in the freezer until use.

Repeat process (re-melt chocolate glaze if needed) until you have 8 toppers in the freezer.
Make cake according to mix and bake in 4 pans as directed on box. Only fill the pans 1/2 full, or they will overflow. And grease the pans generously!!! My 1st batch stuck a little.
You will need to bake two batches to get your 8 cakes. Cool completely.
Make filling by beating together the marshmallow creme and the butter until smooth and light (about 2 minutes).
Slowly add the powdered sugar, beating on low until it is fully mixed in, and then increasing to high and beating until light and fluffy (another 2 minutes or so).
Place filling into a zip top bag and zip it tightly closed. Clip a corner off and squeeze filling into each open cake cavity.
Gently set a chocolate topper over the filling, pressing it lightly against the filling. As the topper warms to room temperature, it will soften and stick more firmly to the cake.
Gently peel away the plastic from the top of the transfer.

Keep at room temperature until serving. Kept covered, these can be stored for two to three days.
Enjoy!

My thoughts: If you don’t mind the extra equipment and a little bit of time, these are positively the most elegant and delicious little cakes! I had so much fun serving these as individual desserts- and everyone loved them. If what you are aiming for is extra special- this is your dessert. If you need your chocolate fix right now? Get those Little Debbies!!!😉 ~r

Other fall treats here on Easybaked:

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Posted in Cakes, chocolate and tagged cake, chocolate, chocolate transfers, fall dessert, fall recipe, filled cakes, fudge, ganache, glaze, how to use chocolate transfers, individual dessert, marshmallow, marshmallow chocolate cake, thanksgiving dessert. Bookmark the permalink.

A Collection of 10 Halloween Treats!

Posted on October 27, 2016 by Ruthanne

halloween dessert collection

My thoughts: These are some of my favorites!!!! Click on a photo to see each recipe. Enjoy!!! ~r

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Posted in Cake Pops, Cakes, Candy, chocolate, Cupcakes, Kids recipes, Seasonal dessert and tagged cupcakes, halloween desserts, holiday themed desserts, scary desserts, spider desserts. Bookmark the permalink.

10 Fun Dessert Recipes for Father’s Day!

Posted on June 14, 2016 by Ruthanne

Father’s Day is upon us! I love this day. I have such a great dad- he is adventurous, wise, funny and so much fun to spend time with. I’ve created many recipes here at Easybaked on his behalf, and thought I would gather them all into one little post for you!

Dads come in all varieties with all sorts of interests and hobbies. If your dad is a golfer, try the Hole-in-one Cupcakes pictured above. They use a Lindt chocolate truffle as a golf ball- which is cute and SO yummy eaten with that cupcake!

If your dad is the grill-master of your family, you might make him BBQ Cupcakes– or Hamburger Cookies– or maybe both!

He loves football??? Hopefully he loves the Green Bay Packers… the only team truly worth cheering for….!

Make him delicious dark chocolate Football Cookies, fun little First Down Oreo Pops, OR Cheesehead Cupcakes (Go Packers!) At the very least you can entertain him with stories of how you use your tire pressure gauge with that last recipe…

Maybe your dad is a foodie. He loves his bacon and doughnuts! We’ve got both of those covered! Our Pancake and Bacon Cupcakes are actually incredibly delicious! I was skeptical- and I made them- but they got five stars in my book! We also have some pretty amazing Doughnut Cupcakes– that actually taste like doughnuts!

Finally, for the fisherman fathers out there….. Fishing Bobber Cupcakes– that use Lindt Truffles as an adorable bobber on waves of blue icing- and Fishing Pond Cupcakes– stocked with little goldfish crackers!

That makes 10 incredibly fun, unique and delicious recipes! But I need to add one more… in honor of my dad, who spent his life working in a medical laboratory and literally spent an hour this morning over breakfast telling me all the horrible things they used to have to mouth-pipette back when he started in the profession in the 1960’s… (like formaldehyde… as one of the less nasty things…)

For you dad…(and all scientist dads out there!) Toxic Sludge Cupcakes! These are unbelievable delicious… that green goo is white chocolate pudding and it is SO good inside these cupcakes… makes me smile🙂

Happy Father’s Day! I hope you have a chance to bake some sweet treats to celebrate your dad this weekend! ~r

Dad and my sweet puppy this morning **smile**

Some of my dad’s other favorites through the years:

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Posted in Cakes, Candy, Cookies, Cupcakes and tagged candy, chocolate, cookies, cupcakes, Father's Day, fathers day desserts, fathers day recipe collection, Fathers day recipes, fishing dessert, golf dessert, grilled dessert, science dessert, top 10 fathers day recipes. Bookmark the permalink.

Fun recipes for kids!

Posted on June 4, 2016 by Ruthanne

Summer is almost here- and that means summer vacation! I remember spending my summer days in the kitchen with cookbooks I’d gotten out of the library, trying new things. Sometimes I baked with mom- and sometimes I ventured out on my own and learned valuable lessons like you can’t put the whole egg in when the recipe calls for just egg whites!

As an adult, I love baking with kids. I love creating recipes that make kids smile. My childhood interest turned into a lifelong hobby for me, and it’s fun to share that with a new audience.

I thought I’d share some of my favorite kid-friendly recipes that have been posted on Easybaked over the years.

Some of these are featured in my cookbook for kids, “Life is Sweet, Baking Devotions for Kids”.

As I share photos of these recipes, click on the photo to be taken to the recipe!

Easy Recipes- ones that kids can make on their own or with a little adult supervision.

Cinnamon Cheesecake Sundaes– use wonton wrappers to make crispy little cups. Fill them up with a no-bake cheesecake and sundae toppings. Kids love to make their own creative sundaes!

Nutter Butter Flip Flops- less baking and more art! Simply dip Nutter Butter cookies in Wilton’s candy melts and draw on flip-flop straps. It might take a little practice, but learning to dip things in chocolate is a skill everyone should learn!

Tie-Dye Cake- If your kids love color, this cake will make them smile! You color cake mix in all the shades of the rainbow and then bake it into a swirling masterpiece. With blue frosting. Everyone loves blue frosting- right?!?

Hamburger Cookies- They look like hamburgers but taste like chocolate. What kid wouldn’t love that! Easy and quick to make- and very cute when served with those mini potato sticks as french fries!

Earthworm Cupcakes- Kids will love making these jello “worms” and poking them into Oreo crumbs. Not just your USUAL dirt cupcakes- because this time the worms look REAL!

“Pup”cakes- If your kids are looking for someone special to bake for… try these super-easy cupcake treats for dogs! Peanut butter happiness for everyone!

Confetti Kisses- here’s that chance to learn about egg whites! A little supervision if they’ve never divided an egg before- and help with beaters- but add some Jell-O and you have such a fun treat!

Recipes for kid’s parties: These are fun ideas to surprise kids with. Maybe they help create the masterpiece- or you create it for them. These are a little more difficult, but so much fun!

Frozen S’mores Cups!

Kool-aid Truffles

Candy-filled Cake

A Dr. Seuss-style stack of cupcakes

Polka Dot Cake!

Toxic Slime Cupcakes!

Oreo Frogs!

Root beer float cupcakes (one of my favorite cupcake recipes!)

And last…but certainly not least:

Kool Aid Pie!

I hope I’ve inspired a little summer fun in the kitchen! Enjoy! ~r

One of our specialties here on Easybaked is our fun-to make (and eat!) Oreo pops! We have them for every season! (click on photo to get directions!)

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Posted in Cakes, Candy, Cheesecakes, Cookie Cups, Cookies, Cupcakes, Easy recipes, Frozen desserts, Kids recipes and tagged baking with kids, collection of kids desserts, collection of kids recipes, dessert recipes, easy dessert recipe, fun desserts, kid friendly recipes, kids party desserts, recipe collection, summer baking, summer recipes. Bookmark the permalink.

Mom’s Amazing Coffee Cake!

Posted on May 8, 2016 by Ruthanne

This delicious coffee cake has hidden layers of cinnamon and pecans- and a yummy cream cheese frosting!

My mom used to make this delicious coffee cake whenever my grandparents (her mom and dad) would come to visit. I have great memories of sitting around the table having this with all of them and listening to all the “grown-up” talk. They were from Wisconsin, so a visit always meant a couple of days with us in Michigan. I’d get up early and take a long walk with grandpa and our overweight basset hound Max before breakfast, and return to a kitchen table full of family, laughter, and this coffee cake.

My grandparents lived very active and adventurous lives until they left us for heaven several years ago.

Mom, as those of you who keep up with this blog know, left us for heaven about a year and a half ago.

A friend sent me an article last week about 8 ways to celebrate Mother’s Day if your mom is in heaven. They were great ideas, and the very 1st one was, “Make her favorite recipe”. I think her favorite recipe was my grandma’s recipe for German Sauerbraten, but since desserts are my specialty, I decided on this coffeecake as my “remembering mom” recipe.

As my kitchen filled up with the smell of this baking, it made me smile. And remember.

Here’s how to make it: (printable recipe)

INGREDIENTS:

Cake:

1 stick of butter, softened
1 cup of sugar
3 eggs
2 cups of flour
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1/8 teaspoon of salt
1 cup of sour cream
1 teaspoon of vanilla

Filling:

1 cup of finely chopped pecans
1 1/2 cups of brown sugar
4 tablespoons of butter, melted
4 tablespoons of flour
2 teaspoons of cinnamon

Icing:

4 oz. (half a package) of cream cheese
4 tablespoons of butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla
Dash of salt
2 cups of powdered sugar
1/2 cup of white chocolate chips, melted

DIRECTIONS:

Cake:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease/flour a bundt cake pan.
Cream butter and sugar together.
Add eggs and beat well.
Add flour, soda and salt. Mix well.
Add sour cream and vanilla and mix well. Set aside.

Filling:

Combine all ingredients until completely coated in melted butter.
Assemble cake: pour about 1/2 of batter into prepared bundt cake pan, sprinkle more than 1/2 of filling on batter, pour remaining batter over filling and then sprinkle remaining filling over the top.
Bake at 350 degrees for one hour. Cool and tip out of pan onto serving plate.

Icing:

Combine all ingredients except chocolate in a large mixing bowl and beat on high until smooth and fluffy.
Add melted chocolate and beat until smooth.
Spread over the top of the cooled coffee cake.
Enjoy!

My thoughts: Warm this up for a few seconds in the microwave before serving and YUM!!! You can keep this cake in an airtight container in the fridge and serve it for several days. I hope your family enjoys this recipe as much as ours did over the years!! ~r

Whether you are celebrating your mom in person, or thanking God for wonderful memories of her today, Happy Mother’s Day to you and to your family!

This one’s for you mom!

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Other recipes from my mom: (click on photo to see recipe)

No, seriously…you have to try that 1st one…best. cake. ever.🙂

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Posted in Cakes and tagged best, breakfast, cake, cinnamon, coffee cake, cream cheese icing, dessert, family recipe, mothers day recipe, pecans. Bookmark the permalink.

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Category Archives: Cakes

Strawberry Cream Confetti Cups!

Caramel Pecan Cup of Cake!

Fall Marshmallow Cakes

A Collection of 10 Halloween Treats!

10 Fun Dessert Recipes for Father’s Day!

Mom’s Amazing Coffee Cake!

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