Carrot Cake

This surely satisfied my craving for carrot cake on Sunday. I used Pioneer Woman's recipe, check out her post for the recipe and definitely make it if you're on the fence. The pecan cream cheese icing was verrrry good.

As far as notes about this recipe, I didn't change a thing. I did bake mine in a bundt pan instead of a 9x13 so my baking time was closer to the 50 minutes

Also, please excuse the TV in the background. I'm contemplating getting a light box to help with the photography, but I'm still looking around. If you see any great deals on them, let me know b/c I'm still justifying the expense to myself.

Simply Delicious Strawberry Cake

I let Casey pick which cake recipe he wanted for his birthday (it was on the 17th) and he glanced through my Google Reader and found this recipe for Paula Deen's strawberry cake. I got this recipe from Celeste over at Sugar and Spice. It's a pretty easy recipe (it actually uses a box cake mix) and it's verryyy good. I hope he enjoyed it!

(Source: Paula Deen)

1 (18.25-ounce) box white cake mix
1 (3-ounce) box strawberry flavored instant gelatin
1 (10-ounce) package frozen strawberries in syrup, thawed and pureed
4 large eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup water
Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe follows)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease and flour 2 round 9-inch cake pans.

In a large bowl, combine cake mix and gelatin. Add pureed strawberries, eggs, oil, and water; beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Pour into prepared pans, and bake for 20 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool in pans, and cool completely on wire racks.

Spread Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting in between layers and on top and sides of cake.

Garnish with sliced fresh strawberries, if desired.


Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting:
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 (10-ounce) package frozen strawberries in syrup, thawed and pureed
1/2 teaspoon strawberry extract (I used vanilla extract instead)
7 cups confectioner's sugar

Lemon Cake

Another dessert.. I promise we don't eat desserts all the time. I just haven't updated in awhile =) I pulled this one from Erin's Eats as well and I think I'll definitely be making it again. This cake has a strong lemon flavor from the glaze which I really thought balanced out the subtle flavor in the cake from the lemon zest. I served this with strawberries and whipped cream for Labor Day and it was really good. I made this cake on Saturday so by Monday the flavor was so good.

(Source: Erin's Eats)

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

8 ounces sour cream

1 1/3 cups sugar, dividied

3 large eggs

2 teaspoons grated lemon zest (approximately 1 1/2-2 lemons)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup vegatable oil

1/3 cup freshley squeezed lemon juice (approximately 2 large lemons)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease a loaf pan and line the bottom with parchment paper. In a small bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder and salt. In a medium bowl, mix together 1 cup of sugar, sour cream, eggs, lemon zest and vanilla.

Slowly mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. With a rubber spatula, fold the vegetable oil into the batter, making sure it is mixed together well.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick placed in the center of the loaf comes out clean.

While the cake is cooking in the oven, cook 1/3 cup lemon juice and the remaining 1/3 cup sugar in a small pan until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is clear. Set aside.

When the cake is done, allow it to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Cover a baking rack with wax paper and carefully place the loaf on the rack. While the cake is still warm, pour the lemon-sugar mixture over the cake and allow for it to soak in.