Orange Streusel Loaves

Today's recipe came from http://www.duncanhines.com/.  Orange pound cake that smells heavenly as it bakes.  Next time, I will use a bundt pan not loaves.  It doesn't slice well in the loaf format, not dense enough for that.

Streusel topping

1 pkg Duncan Hines® Moist Deluxe® Orange Supreme Cake Mix

2 tbsp brown sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tbsp butter or margarine

1/2 cup finely chopped pecans

Cake

1 (3.4 oz) pkg vanilla instant pudding and pie filling
4 large eggs
1 cup sour cream
1/3 cup oil

Glaze:
1/3 cup Duncan Hines® Creamy Home-Style Classic Vanilla Frosting
2 tbsp milk or orange juice
(I used cream cheese frosting with milk and grated orange rind.  Before juicing oranges, I grate the rind and save in the freezer so I always have it on hand.)

Preheat oven to 350F.  Grease two 8 x 4 loaf pans
1.For streusel topping, place 2 tablespoons dry cake mix, brown sugar, cinnamon and margarine in medium bowl. Mix well with fork until crumbly. Stir in pecans. Set aside.

2.For cake, combine remaining cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, sour cream and oil in large bowl. Beat at medium speed with electric mixer for 2 minutes. Pour batter into pans. Sprinkle with streusel mixture.

3.Bake at 350 ºF for 50 to 60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans 15 minutes. Loosen loaves from pans. Invert onto cooling rack. Turn right side up. Cool completely.

4.For glaze, combine frosting and liquid in small bowl. Stir until smooth. Drizzle over cooled loaves.

Coconut Almond Bars

I got the urge to bake last night.  I've had two boxes of brownie mix sitting in the cupboard since Christmas, so I decided to use one of those.  I found  this recipe and tweaked it to use what I had on hand.

Brownie Ingredients:

1 box family size Dark Chocolate Brownie Mix (makes a 9 x13 pan)
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup canola oil
2 eggs

Filling ingredients:

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
2 cup powdered sugar
4-6 tablespoons milk
1 cup toasted finely chopped almonds
1 cup flaked coconut

Topping
1 can chocolate fudge frosting


Preheat oven to 350F.  Mix the brownie ingredients and pour into a greased 9x13 pan.  Bake 30 minutes unitl done.  Let cool completely.

For filling, beat butter and powdered sugar with an electric mixer.  Add milk and beat until creamy.  Add coconut and nuts.  Spread over cool brownies. 

Microwave canned frosting for 1 minute to make a pourable consistancy.  Spread evenly over coconut filling and let set until firm enough to cut.

Apple Dumplings

Todays offering is not really a cake, so I digress from the format but this is so good, you will eat it until you make yourself sick! This recipe came from the The Pioneer Woman Cooks!  I used less Mountain Dew than called for in the original, otherwise I followed the directions exactly.    The photo shown is a double batch.  These are not difficult and I baked them just before DH left for work so they should still be warm upon arrival.

Ingredients:

2 whole Granny Smith Apples (I used Honey Crisps)
2 cans (8 Oz. Cans) Crescent Rolls
2 sticks Butter (I used unsalted)
1-½ cup Sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla
Cinnamon, To Taste
1 can (12 Oz.) Mountain Dew Soda ( I used the little 8 oz. can)

Preparation Instructions:

Peel and core apples. Cut each apple into 8 slices each. Roll each apple slice in a crescent roll. Place in a 9 x 13 buttered pan.

Melt butter, then add sugar and barely stir. Add vanilla, stir, and pour entire mixture over apples. Pour Mountain Dew around the edges of the pan. Sprinkle with cinnamon and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.

WARNING: Prepare this dish at your own risk. It is beyond good.

Rum Cake in a Jar

As an extra this week I am going to post my old holiday favorite, cake in a jar.  You can use any cake recipe you like, but I have found the most popular flavor is a modified version of the Bacardi Rum Cake.  You need 8 pint size wide mouth canning jars with lids for a standard 2-layer cake recipe.

Cake Ingredients:

1 yellow cake mix
1 small box (3.75 oz) instant vanilla pudding mix
4 eggs
1/2 cup cold water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup rum (sometimes I use spiced rum)
1 cup chopped pecans

Glaze:

1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup water
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup rum

Preheat oven to 350F.  Grease inside of canning jars (I spray with PAM).  Mix first six cake ingredients and beat for 5 minutes with a mixer.  Divide batter evenly between the 8 jars.  Sprinkle the pecans on top of cake mix.  Place jars on a cookie sheet for easier handling and bake for 30-35 minutes until a tooth pick inserted in the middle comes out clean.  The cake may rise above the top of the jar, but that is ok as the cake will shrink as it cools.

Place canning lids in a pan of boiling water and simmer on low while the cakes bake and you make the glaze.  Melt butter in a saucepan.  Stir in water and sugar.  Boil 5 minutes, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat and stir in rum. 

Immediately when you remove the cakes from the oven, poke each cake throughly using a long bamboo skewer.  Slowly ladle small amounts of the rum glaze into each jar.  If you do this too fast the glaze will overflow.  Let each ladle of glaze absorb before adding more.  Take lids out of hot water and quickly dry.  Place lids on top of hot jars and screw on the jar rings.  Use a towel to hold the jars while you do this as they will still be HOT!  You will hear the jar lids begin to "ping" as the heat from the cake causes the jars to seal.  Once the jars are cool, you can screw down the rings tightly.  After it cools it will pull away from the jar and when you are ready to eat, open and pop out the cake and enjoy!

Strawberry Cake

I am afraid I wasn't very inspired this week.  It was a long, tough week and I was tired.  It is a pink cake in honor of Valentine's Day; strawberry cake mix, pink frosting and lots of sprinkles.  I tried to make it special by using a specialty pan but my frosting choice sort of obliterated the pretty curves of the cake!

Apricot Rum Cake

This one is from Flora's Recipe Hideout .  I forgot to take a photo before sending it off this morning, but it wasn't much to look at anyway ;-)  I baked it in a 9 x 13 pan instead of the bundt pan the recipe calls for.  I think a flat cake allows more of the glaze to absorb.  The recipe on the website has the ingredient list mixed.  I have corrected that in the recipe below.

Cake Ingredients:

1 pkg yellow cake mix
4 eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup apricot nectar

Glaze Ingredients:

2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
1/3 cup rum (I used spiced rum)

Grease a 9 x 13 pan.  Preheat oven to 350F.  Combine cake ingredients and beat with a mixer 10 minutes.  Pour into prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes. 

While cake is baking, prepare glaze.  Place glaze ingredients into a small saucepan and bring to a boil. 

When cake tests done, remove form oven and let rest for 10 minutes.  Prick cake with a long-pronged fork.  Slowly spoon glaze evenly over top of cake.  Let cool completely and serve.