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Posts Tagged ‘Cream Cheese Frosting’

Red Velvet Pound Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Posted in Recipes, tagged , , on February 11, 2013 | 4 Comments »

Ok, this is my one red dessert for Valentine’s Day. I would be a bad food blogger if I didn’t include something red, or heart-shaped, during the 1st half of February. Oh, the heart-shaped dessert will make an appearance, don’t worry!

I made a red velvet pound cake and topped it with a cream cheese frosting. What better way to say “I love you”, than with a dessert that has enough food coloring in it to turn your tongue red! :)  Just joking!

Red Velvet Pound Cake/Bake, Run, Live

Red Velvet Pound Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Pound cake:
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening
3 cups sugar
5 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup cocoa powder
2 3/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk
1 oz. red food coloring

Cream cheese frosting:
1- 8 oz. package cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
2 cups powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 loaf pans with aluminum foil, then spray with cooking spray. Set aside.

To make the pound cake:
In a stand mixer, using the paddle attachment, cream together the butter, shortening, and sugar. Add in the eggs and mix well. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides. With the mixer on low speed, add in the salt, baking powder, and cocoa powder. Add in 1/3 of the flour, then add in 1/2 of the buttermilk. Add in another 1/3  of the flour, followed by the rest of the buttermilk. Then add in the remaining flour. Add in the vanilla and red food coloring. Divide the batter evenly between the 2 prepared loaf pans. Bake in a preheated oven for 65-70 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool. After 15 minutes, remove the loaves from the pan and let cool completely.

To make the cream cheese frosting:
In a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, cream together the cream cheese and butter. Add in the vanilla bean paste. Slowly add in the powdered sugar and beat until it is well combined.

Once the pound cake has cooled completely, evenly divide the frosting between the 2 loaves and frost the tops of the cakes. Enjoy!

Note: This can also be made in a 10-cup bundt pan. Just keep an eye on the baking time!

Red Velvet Pound Cake/Bake, Run, Live

Made with love, not calories!

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Apple Spice Whoopie Pies

Posted in Recipes, tagged , , , , , , , on January 23, 2012 | 3 Comments »

WHOOPIE!!!

As in hooray! Come on people, behave yourselves!

We celebrated Nick’s birthday the other day, and I asked him what I could bake for him. “You know what I like” was his response.
Now on one hand, this makes things easy. I can choose basically whatever I want to make. On the other hand, this makes things more difficult. There are so many things I could make! I was given no direction (like- “I’d really like a cheesecake”, or “brownies would be great”).

Sigh.

One thing I know he REALLY likes, is cream cheese frosting. So I decided whatever I made, I had to incorporate that. Spice cake and carrot cake both work well with cream cheese frosting, so I decided to make something similar. Apple Spice Whoopie Pies. A slightly spicy batter with grated apples mixed in. I used cake flour instead of all-purpose flour, in order to achieve a more cake-like texture. I also added vanilla bean paste to the frosting for a little more added flavor. The whoopie pies are a delightful combination of flavors, and they were an enjoyable dessert for Nick’s birthday!

Apple Spice Whoopie Pies (with a cream cheese filling)
Makes: 12 whoopie pies
Prep time: 20 minutes     Bake time: 12-13 minutes

1 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup molasses
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup shredded apple, packed
3 cups cake flour
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
2 cups powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the butter, molasses, and brown sugar. Cream these items together. Add in eggs and stir to combine. Add in the baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. Stir in the grated apple (Note: I used 2 small apples and peeled them before shredding with a box grater. If you don’t have a grater, chop up the apples into very small pieces). Stir in the cake flour until just combined.
Using a large ice cream scoop, scoop dough onto a parchment-paper lined cookie sheet. Bake for 12-13 minutes. Don’t under-bake!
Remove from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, move to cooling racks and let cool completely.

In a medium-sized mixing bowl, with a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add in the vanilla bean paste (you can substitute vanilla extract), then slowly add in the powdered sugar. Beat the mixture until smooth.

Once the whoopies/cake-cookies/cookie-cakes :) are completely cooled, spoon the cream cheese filling onto the bottoms of 12, then top with the remaining 12. Serve immediately. Enjoy!

Dough- hmmm, not the prettiest picture!

Cream cheese frosting!

Question(s) of the day: What’s your favorite flavor of whoopie pie? What’s your favorite birthday dessert?

Made with love, not calories!

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Gingerbread Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting

Posted in Recipes, tagged , on December 14, 2011 | 6 Comments »

I mentioned before that I don’t really care for spicy foods. However, I really like the tastes of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves. And that is a good thing too, as this recipe includes all 4 of those spices, plus molasses!

Gingerbread really makes an appearance at this time of year. Oh, you always see gingersnaps in the cookie aisle, but gingerbread men and gingerbread houses? They come out in droves during Christmas (though honestly? At the store I shop at, they were out the day after Halloween).

Gingerbread bars have a little thicker texture than a gingerbread cake. And slathered with cream cheese frosting! Yum! The gingerbread and frosting balance each other nicely. These are perfect for that after dinner dessert with coffee. Actually, they would be perfect anytime!

Gingerbread Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting
Makes 1 pan

Gingerbread bars:

1 cup butter
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs + 1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup molasses
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/4 teapsoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2 3/4 cups flour

Cream Cheese frosting:

4 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)
1 cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 11 x 15 pan (or line with aluminum foil & grease). Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and sugar. Add in the eggs, egg yolk, vanilla, and molasses, and mix well. Stir in the baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves. Add in the flour and mix until just combined .
Spread into prepared pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool completely.

To make the frosting, in a medium-sized mixing bowl, beat together the cream cheese and butter. Add in the vanilla, then slowly add in the powdered sugar. Mix until everything comes together and the frosting is smooth.
Once the bars have completely cooled, spread on the cream cheese frosting. You can cut and serve the bars now if you want, or you can refrigerate them and let the frosting set.

Note: I used a 13×9 inch pan, and baked it just shy of 35 minutes. They were really thick…so I think an 11×15 inch pan would work better. If you only have a 13×9, by all means use it- just know the baking time will be longer and they will be thicker.

What dessert do you enjoy with coffee?

Made with love, not calories!

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