Mandarin Orange Pineapple Cake

My mother went to a baby shower last month and had this cake which she raved about for 10 minutes or so on the phone to me the next day. Now, just because my mother raves about something for 10 minutes doesn’t really mean anything. She can go on and on about nothing for at least a good half hour. What can I say, it just one of her many talents.  I have never tried the cake until now for two reasons. First, mandarin oranges rank up there with raisins on my husband's very short list of foods he does not like. Secondly, I have made an attempt on this cake before, different recipe, and it was simply awful. So, my first thought was to get the recipe that she tried but I did not have time and instead went online and did the best I could.
When I asked my mother what the cake was like she told me her piece was the size of her plate, the cake was light and soft and the frosting was very light and fluffy. So, from these clues I knew a few things. 1. The cake must have been made with at least 4 eggs because the layers were tall. 2. Oil must have been the fat used instead of butter because oil makes a cake mix light, fresh tasting and soft. Finally, the frosting must have been made with Cool-Whip because sweetened whipped cream would have had a hard time remaining stable for that long.
Funny thing, all the recipes I found were pretty much alike but different from what I tried before. My mistake was going the self-rising flour route before which will mess you up every time if you are looking for something light and airy. Self-rising flour should be reserved for hearty things like bread, coffee cake, and cobbler in my opinion.
The cake was wonderful! Just as my mother had described it. I will say that it needs to sit in the refrigerator at least a day before serving. It was much better the second day once all the flavors had time to meld together.

Mandarin Orange Pineapple Cake
from COOKS.COM
1 pkg.yellow cake mix
1 (11 oz.) can mandarin oranges with juice
3/4 c. oil
4 eggs
FROSTING:
1 (13 1/2 oz. or 16) Cool Whip
1 (3 oz.) pkg. vanilla instant pudding
1 (20 oz.) can crushed pineapple
Mix cake mix with mandarin orange with juice and oil. Add eggs one at a time and mix well. Grease and flour 3 (8 inch) cake pans. Divide batter evenly into 3 pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes minutes. Cool thoroughly.
Mix Cool Whip, pudding and crushed pineapple with some juice. Return to refrigerator for 10 minutes. Frost cake and keep in refrigerator.

Cake Balls

Cake Balls

1 boxed cake mix (cook as directed on box for 13 X 9 cake)

1 can frosting (16 oz.)

1 package almond bark (regular or white chocolate)

wax paper
1. After cake is cooked and cooled completely, crumble into large bowl.

2. Mix thoroughly with 1 can of frosting. (It may be easier to use fingers to mix together, but be warned it will get messy.)

3. Roll mixture into quarter size balls and lay on cookie sheet. (Should make 45-50.)

4. Chill for several hours. (You can speed this up by putting in the freezer.)

5. Melt chocolate in microwave per directions on package.

6. Roll balls in chocolate and lay on wax paper until firm. (Use a spoon to dip and roll in chocolate and then tap off extra.)
Melt a few pieces of chocolate bark at a time because it starts to cool and thicken. It’s easier to work with when it’s hot.

Williams-Sonoma Sandwich Cookie Cake Pan

Hi! I'm not really ready to come back, but I will be baking for a least the next two weeks. Maybe a few things will end up here for you to see.

Thought I would start out with something simple since I have a very good excuse for my four month absence. "Mr. Man" has been keeping me very busy since his arrival on June 18th and so has BabyGirl. However, I am going to pat myself on the back for making 2, count them, 2 cherry pies when he was only 3 weeks old for a family event that I did not get to attend. I'm not bitter and I hope my pies were not either!

Moving on. So, Sister-In-Law needed a cake this week for a Cake Walk. Can you believe I have never been to one? Crazy. I thought it would be a good opportunity to use my new pan I got for my birthday. Oh yes, I celebrated a birthday during my maternity leave. Too tired to bake myself a cake this year, but I did enjoy some Key Lime Pie Cheesecake along with a few other tasty treats. Anywho, I pulled out my new cookie cake pan today and got busy.

I read reviews and tips on this pan until late in the night and decided that either it was going to be a disaster or just fine. I decided to throw caution to the wind this morning and spray the thing with a tremendous amount of Baker's Joy and hope for the best. Worked great. I don't know why all those reviewers had such a problem. I decided just to use a box cake mix and a simple buttercream frosting, 2 cups. When the cake came out of the oven I put the pans on the cooling rack for ten minutes and flipped them over. Said a short prayer and lifted the pans carefully. I looked over at Mr. Man, who was sitting next to me in his seat, hoping for a smile of encouragement, but instead he stuck out his tongue and made a raspberry sound. So no encouragement from my little helper. However, the pan lifted fine and I moved on to the icing. It took about 2 cups and I did scoop out a bit of cake from both layers to make sure that I got a good amount in between. If I had not been making this cake to package up I would have put the icing closer to the edge to look more like an Oreo. The final thing is taste. I'm not exactly sure, but who could go wrong with a cake mix.

Chocolate Upside-Down Cake

My mother turned another year older this month so as always I made her a cake. Well, I made her 2 cakes. The first one was the famous Coconut Poke Cake with the sweetened condensed milk and the cream of coconut. My mother is not in the least choosy when it comes to desserts. Real food, yes. If it has sugar in it, around it, under it, it is for her. So I knew that my choice would not matter that much. I had never made the poke cake before so therefore, I have not had a lot of experience with cream of coconut. To my dismay, I opened the can and half of it was green. I quickly assessed the situation which was something like, “would I want to put that in my mouth.” The answer was no! So I turned it into a Tres Leches Cake instead. Now, if it had not been her birthday I would have brought her the cake and moved on. However, I felt bad that I had to substitute ingredients and was not just really happy with my selection. So, I made this cake. A Chocolate Upside-Down Cake.
Very fun to make, but it looks like a disaster in the prep. You make this brown water mixture that looks like beef broth on the stove and pour it into the pan. Throw in a bunch of ingredients consistenting of all different kinds of textures. Then you mix up a cake mix and pour it over the soupy mess. Fun stuff! Reminded me of my childhood when I would have pretend cooking shows.
The taste was great! A lot like a German Chocolate Cake but more chocolaty. I was not really happy with my picture of this cake. To me, it looks a lot like meatloaf with onions on top. It was difficult to plate this one up. I would scoop this into bowls with vanilla ice cream while it is still warm much like you would Chocolate Cobbler. Yum.

Chocolate Upside-Down Cake
1 1/4 cups water
1/4 cup butter or margarine
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup coconut
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped pecans
2 cups mini marshmallows
1 (18 1/4 ounce) package German chocolate cake mix
Directions
In a small saucepan, heat water and butter until butter is melted. Stir in brown sugar; mix well. Pour into a greased 13x9 inch cake pan. Sprinkle with coconut, chips, pecans and marshmallows.
Prepare cake batter according to directions; carefully pour over marshmallows. Bake at 325 degrees for 55-60 minute or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minute before inverting onto a platter.

Can’t Leave Alone Bars

Another recipe name that lacks creativity. A few months ago I decided to join an online club called the Cookie Club. Very simple, they send you a dozen recipes a month by email and if you use one you must give them credit. No problem. Today’s recipe is one that I received but the name did not draw me to it, the ingredients did. Very moist bar cookie with a thick fudgy layer of chocolate topped off with a cookie crust. Chocolaty.
I do have some suggestions for this easy dessert. If I were going to make this bar again I would leave out one egg. You see, the crust would become the recipe for a cake mix cookie minus one egg. This would give the dessert more of a cookie crunch to compliment the fudgy filling. Also, dropping the mix on top is always such a problem. My mother, of all people, suggested that I roll the remaining dough and make a lattice-like design or just stripes. I liked this suggestion. I think that would look much better than the strange polka dots that I had on mine. Finally, nuts. I think that would be a personal choice. If you a nutty fudge person than I would say go for at least a ½ cup of finely chopped pecans in your filling.
I feel like with all my suggestions I have a totally new recipe. Hmmm, if I changed the name and used all my suggestions would I have to still give Cookie Club the credit? I don’t think so.

Can’t Leave Alone Bars
From: cookieclubrecipes.com

1 package (18 1/4 ounce) white cake mix

2 eggs

1/3 c. vegetable oil

1 can (14 ounce) sweetened condensed milk

1 c. (6 ounce) semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/4 c. butter, cubed

In a bowl, combine the dry cake mix, eggs and oil. With floured hands or spatula, press 2/3 of the mixture into a greased 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Set remaining cake mixture aside. In a microwave-safe bowl, combine the milk, chocolate chips and butter. Microwave for 45 seconds, stir. Microwave 45 to 60 seconds longer or until chips and butter are melted; stir until smooth. Pour over crust. Drop remaining cake mixture by teaspoonfuls over top. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool before cutting.

Cherry Crunch Cake

Here is one that I got out of a magazine and modified it slightly. At first glance, you might be saying, “isn’t this just an old Dump Cake.” Well, I did until I made it and found that it has way more ingredients that really enhance the taste. I have made this twice and the first time I started taking stuff out of the pantry and noticed that I had made the cake without really concentrating on what I was doing.
I think the Dump Cake gets a bad wrap. Number 1, it is simple so somehow even if something taste good, if a lot of effort was not put into it people turn their nose up to it. Silly. Number 2, the name is horrendous. I mean, it fits the recipe, but really someone could have worked a little bit harder and come up with something, I guess like what we have in today’s post.
I love the fact that you can pick a fruit to use and cherry seems to be a family favorite. Blueberry was in the original recipe, but peach would be tasty too. The nuts on top give it a great crunch and set it apart from the old recipe. Very cobbler like and quite a speedy recipe to make. I did have to bake mine for about 55 minutes. I would like to have gone a whole hour but my nuts were burning! What a problem.


Cherry Crunch Cake
1 (20 ounce) can crushed pineapple in juice
1 (21 ounce) can pie filling*
1 (18 1/4 ounce) box butter recipe cake mix
1 cup chopped pecans
3/4 cup butter, melted
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour pineapple with juice into a 9 x 13" pan. Spread evenly over the bottom. Spoon pie filling on top evenly. Sprinkle dry cake mix and level with a fork. Sprinkle pecans over the cake mix. Drizzle with melted butter. Bake 50-55 minutes until browned and bubbly.
*You may also substitute strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, cherries, peaches or raspberries.

Honey Bun Cake

I love to iron. (Yes, getting out more would help this, and please don’t send me your clothes.) I love my iron. I love my built-in-the-wall, hung to my height, ironing board. I find ironing to be very therapeutic, and it is one of the only things in my life that I can block out everything else and concentrate on one thing. However, today I found that ironing has become hazardous to my health. My mind forgets that I’m not the size I once was and now I must not stand so close to my ironing board. You see, I ironed myself today. With my sleeping child in the next room I had to quietly complain to myself but no major harm was done. It was just what I needed, one more battle scar. What does this have to do with Honey Bun Cake? Nothing. So I will move on now.
I have made this cake before, but in a chocolate version and found it to be a bit dry. Not this cake. With 16 oz of sour cream and 4 eggs, there is no way! Due to those ingredients, I was a little fearful that it was going to be too custard like, and to me it was a little eggy on the start but was much better when just slightly warm instead of hot out of the oven. I did double the amount of glaze but would use the recipe given if making this in a bundt pan. The bake time was perfect. Exactly 45 minutes and the job was done. The filling was very sweet and brown sugary and a good ratio to the amount of cake. Great for a brunch or potluck.

Honey Bun Cake

1(18.25 ounce) box yellow cake mix

1/2 cup vegetable oil

4 eggs

1 (16 ounce) container sour cream

1 cup brown sugar

4 teaspoons cinnamon

1 cup confectioners' sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 to 3 teaspoons hot water

Mix cake mix, oil, eggs and sour cream and pour into a greased 9 x 13-inch glass baking pan. Pour one-half mixture into cake pan.Mix brown sugar and cinnamon and spread evenly across batter. Pour other half batter on top and bake at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes to one hour. (Check after 45 minutes - middle should begin to pass the wooden pick test.)Mix confectioners' sugar, vanilla extract and 1 tablespoon warm water, adding more water if necessary to make glaze thin enough to spread on warm cake.

Cheesecake Cookies

Oops! Yesterday was our 8th wedding anniversary, and I forgot to bake anything to celebrate the occasion. I told myself that I would take a week off from baking but I only made it 5 days. So in honor of the anniversary, and the fact that I was trying to get a smell out of the house, I made some easy cookies. I know, you are thinking, a week off? She has not been posting very much. Well, I have been making a lot of non-desserts and repeats from the past year. Today’s recipe is almost a repeat from the Gooey Butter Cookies, just slightly different.
I found the recipe on Recipe Goldmine last week and was drawn to it for its simplicity, number of ingredients, and what I imagined the taste might be. To me, it was like the top of a Neiman Marcus Cake/Bar that you could fit in the palm of your hand. I baked mine for 12 minutes giving it a gooey center and slightly brown bottom. I think the only drawback is that they are kind of boring looking which I’m not sure how to fix that problem. Perhaps it is not a problem. I’m also curious how other cake mixes would taste. Maybe chocolate or lemon? Interesting.


Cheesecake Cookies
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
4 ounces (1 stick) butter, softened
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 (18.25 ounce) box yellow butter cake mix

Blend first four ingredients. Add cake mix. Drop by spoonsful onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees F. Do not overbake. Yields 3 dozen.