Cinnamon Apple Cake

This is one of my favorite recipes. Years ago I subscribed to Cooking Light Magazine when I was trying to eat and cook healthy things for my family. This recipe comes from the October 1997 issue of the magazine. I still try to cook healthy but sometimes fall off the wagon. Too much of a good thing is always too much of a good thing. The article says that it is the cream cheese in the batter that gives the cake lots of moisture. I think the cake melts in your mouth. I served this recipe last week when we had company for dinner.

1 3/4 cup sugar, divided
1/2 cup stick margarine, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract
6 ounces block-style fat-free cream cheese, softened (about 3/4 cup)
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsps baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsps ground cinnamon
3 cups chopped peeled Rome apple (about 2 large)
cooking spray

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Beat 1 1/2 cups sugar, margarine, vanilla, and cream cheese at medium speed of a mixer until well-blended (about 4 minutes). Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Add flour mixture to creamed mixture, beating at low speed until blended.
3. Combine 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon. Combine 2 TBS cinnamon mixture and apple in a bowl, and stir apple mixture into batter. Pour batter into an 8-inch springform pan coated with cooking spray, and sprinkle with remaining cinnamon mixture.
4. Bake at 350 for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until the cake pulls away from the sides of the pan. Cool the cake completely on a wire rack, and cut using a serrated knife. Yield: 12 servings.

Note: You can also make this cake in a 9-inch square cake pan or a 9-knch springform pan; just reduce the cooking time by 5 minutes.

Pumpkin Cake Roll

During the Holidays this is a great dessert to serve. My daughter Kristen reminded me how much she loved this recipe.

3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. lemon juice
2/3 cup pumpkin
3/4 cup flour
1 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Beat eggs on high speed of mixer for 5 minutes. Gradually beat in sugar. Stir in pumpkin and lemon juice. Sift together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt. Fold into pumpkin mixture. Bake at 375 F for 15 minutes. Turn out on a towel sprinkled with powdered sugar. Start at the narrow end and foll in the towel, covering the cake with powdered sugar. Cool.
For the filling mix until smooth:

1 cup of powdered sugar
3 (3 oz) packages of cream cheese
4 tsp butter or margarine
1/2 tsp vanilla

Spread on the cake roll. Re-roll and wrap in plastic wrap, then foil. Refrigerate 1 hour.

Becky's Pumpkin Pie Cake

During the holidays and especially at Thanksgiving time this pumpkin pie cake is great to make to take to social functions. It is rich and has pumpkin pie filling right in the cake!

1 yellow cake mix
1 cup sugar
1 cup milk
2 cups pumpkin
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
3 eggs and 2 eggs
1/4 cup butter
nuts (optional)

Take 1 cup of dry cake mix and add 1/4 tsp cinnamon. Set aside. Take the remaining dry cake mix and add 2 eggs and a cube of butter. Press this mixture into a 9x13 inch cake pan. Pour in pumpkin mixture (ingredients mixed together from sugar to 3 eggs). Sprinkle with saved 1 cup of cake mix and nuts. Melt 1/4 cup of butter and pour on top of cake. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 to 50 minutes.

Fruit Cocktail Cake

My room mate Sher Bates and I used to make this cake a lot when we lived at Ricks College. I was reminded of this cake when I recently attended a book club and Mary made this with peaches...in fact any bottled fruit is good. Serve it warm with vanilla ice cream and you have a great dessert for company.

Cream:
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs

Add:
2 cups flour
2 tsp soda
1 tsp salt
2 cups fruit cocktail, undrained

Pour batter into greased and floured loaf pan or you can use a 9 x 13 inch cake pan.

Mix and sprinkle on top of batter:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup nuts

Bake at 350 degrees for 40 to 50 minutes.

Poppy Seed Cake

This is Kerry's favorite cake that his Mom (Theone Miles) made while he was growing up. She gave me this recipe when Kerry begged me to make his Mom's Poppy Seed Cake.

2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 large can carnation milk
1 1/2 cups oil
3 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3 Tbs poppy seeds

Mix sugar, eggs, milk, and oil well. Add flour, salt and soda a little at a time and mix well. Add poppy seeds and mix well with beater. Bake 1 hour and 10 minutes at 350 degrees in an Angel food cake pan.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

This cake reminds me of the many picnics that we went on as a family to the lake. Mom would pack a picnic lunch and we would be off. The gooey chocolate frosting would be all over our faces as we munched into this moist cake.

½ cup of oil
½ c. margarine
1/3/4 c. sugar
2 eggs
½ tsp. Cloves
½ tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Vanilla
½ c. sour milk (or buttermilk
2 ½ c. sifted flour
4 Tbsp. Cocoa
1 tsp. Soda
½ tsp. Cinnamon
2 c. grated zucchini

Topping
½ c. brown sugar
1 c. chocolate chips
½ c. chopped walnuts

Cream oil, margarine, sugar and eggs. Alternate sour milk and other sifted dry ingredients until blended. Add zucchini and pour the mixture into a 13x9 inch pan, top with brown sugar, nuts and chips. Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes. This is a moist cake that does not need frosting.

Black Forest Cherry Torte

1/2 tsp almond extract
1 can (21 ounces) cherry pie filling
4 eggs, separated
1 tsp vanilla
¾ cup sugar, divided
½ cup unsifted all purpose flour
1/3 cup Hershey’s Cocoa
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
1/3 cup water
1 TBS sugar
3 cups sweetened whipped cream
Sliced almonds

Stir almond extract into pie filling; chill. Line a 15 ½ x 10 ½ x 1 inch jelly foll pan with aluminum foil; grease foil. Beat egg yolks with vanilla 2 minutes on medium speed. Gradually add ½ cup sugar; continue beating 2 minutes. Combine flour, cocoa, ¼ cup sugar, baking soda and salt; add to egg yolk mixture alternately with water on low speed. Beat egg whites with 1 Tbs. sugar until stiff peaks form; carefully fold into chocolate mixture. Spread evenly in prepared pan; bake at 375 for 14 to 16 minutes or until top springs back when lightly touched in center. Invert onto cooling rack; remove foil. Cool. Cut cake crosswise into 4 equal rectangles 3 ¾ x 10 inches. Spread one layer with ½ cup sweetened whipped cream; top with second layer. Spoon ½ cherry filling in center to within ½-inch of edge; pipe edge with cream. Top with third layer; spread with ½ cup cream. Top with fourth layer; spoon remaining cherry filling to within ½ inch of edge. Frost sides with whipped cream. Pipe top edge. Pat almonds into frosting. Chill.