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.

Dr. Pepper Cake

Here is a cake for all the Dr. Pepper lovers out there. A friend, and loyal Baking Redhead reader, sent this cake to me today from a friend of hers. Not only did she give me the recipe, but a picture of the cake she baked! How wonderful. This is a take off of a Coca-Cola Coke but with fewer ingredients, a milder chocolate cake, and a chocolate cream cheese frosting. Yum. I have not had this version, but have made the Coke Cake several times. I love it. I love Cracker Barrel’s version the best but I don’t like having to pay $20 for ingredients every time. Hey, call me cheap, wouldn’t be the first time today.
So, if you are a lover of Dr. Pepper and Chocolate Cake why don’t you give Jane’s Dr. Pepper Cake made by Priscilla a try!

Dr. Pepper Cake
1 box German Chocolate Cake Mix
1- 3.4 oz box of vanilla instant pudding
¾ c. oil
4 eggs
1 ½ cups Dr. Pepper
Mix and bake in 3 layers for 15-18 minutes at 350 degrees. Cool and frost cake.

Frosting:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 stick butter, softened
3 T. cocoa
1 box (3 /12 cups) powdered sugar
Sift cocoa and sugar together. Add softened butter and cream cheese. Beat until smooth and frost cooled cake.
(May be baked in 9 x 13 pan. Half the frosting recipe for this size of cake. Freezes well!)

Boston Cream Pie

Yummy.
So I was wondering two things when I was preparing this dessert today from Kraft's seasonal publication. Number 1, why is it called a pie? Number 2, what does Boston have to do with it? I found answers to my questions from whatscookingamerican.com.
It is really a cake, not a pie. Two layers of sponge cake are filled with thick vanilla custard and topped with a chocolate glaze or confectioners' sugar. It is cut in wedges like a pie. Cooks in New England and Pennsylvania were known for their cakes and pies and both were very thin. This cake was probably called a pie because in the mid-nineteenth century, pie tins were more common than cake pans. The first versions might have been baked in pie tins. Boston Cream Pie is a remake of the early American "Pudding-Cake Pie ."
The Parker House Hotel in Boston, claims to have served Boston Cream Pies since their opening in 1856. French chef Sanzian, who was hired for the opening of the hotel, is credited with creating this dessert.
The Boston Cream Pie was proclaimed the official Massachusetts State Dessert on December 12, 1996. Other choices included the Toll House Cookie and Indian Pudding.
Now we all know.

Boston Cream Pie
from Kraft
1 round yellow cake layer (8 or 9 inch)
1 cup cold milk
1 pkg. (3.4 oz.) Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding
1-1/2 cups thawed Cool Whip Whipped Topping
1 square BAKER'S Unsweetened Chocolate
1 Tbsp. butter
3/4 cup powdered sugar
2 Tbsp. cold milk

Bake cake as directed on box in 8 or 9 inch pans. (Will only need one layer for this dessert.) CUT cake into 2 layers with serrated knife. Beat 1 cup milk and pudding mix with whisk 2 min. Stir in Cool Whip. Let stand 5 min.
STACK cake layers on serving plate, spreading pudding mixture between layers.
MICROWAVE chocolate and butter on HIGH 1 min. Stir until chocolate is melted. Add sugar and 2 Tbsp. milk; mix well. Spread over cake. Refrigerate 1 hour. Refrigerate leftovers.

Lemon-Cream Cheese Frosting & 1-2-3-4 Cake

I spotted a recipe for Lemon-Cream Cheese Frosting in an issue of Southern Living last week and decided I wanted to give it a whirl. The only problem was I needed something to put the frosting on besides say, my hand. In the magazine, they made some kind of Angel Food for their frosting, but I did not want to crack 92 eggs in order to have the 2 ½ cups of egg whites needed to make the cake. I was going to go the, well I’m not going to say lazy route, but I thought about using a boxed white cake mix. If I had had one I would have used it. There, I admitted it. I quickly thought about a pound cake, but I did not want to use that many eggs. So, I made half of a Basic 1-2-3-4 cake. Very simple. I baked it in a square pan for 32 minutes.
The frosting is very smooth, light, and not stiff like normal cream cheese frosting. Great to dollop; full of lemony flavor. It did note that if you want to use this frosting recipe for a layer cake to cut back on the lemon juice to 1 tablespoon. There would be enough frosting for a basic 2 layer 9 inch round cake.

Lemon-Cream Cheese Frosting
8 oz pkg cream cheese, softened
¼ cup butter, softened
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
1 16oz pkg powdered sugar
2 tsp lemon zest

Beat cream cheese and butter at medium speed until creamy; add lemon juice, beating just until blended. Gradually add powdered sugar, beating at low speed until blended; stir in lemon zest.

Basic 1-2-3-4 Cake
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
3 cups sifted self-rising flour
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Grease and flour 3 (9-inch) cake pans. Using an electric mixer, cream butter until fluffy. Add sugar and continue to cream well for 6 to 8 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour and milk alternately to creamed mixture, beginning and ending with flour. Add vanilla and continue to beat until just mixed. Divide batter equally among prepared pans. Level batter in each pan by holding pan 3 or 4 inches above counter, then dropping it flat onto counter. Do this several times to release air bubbles and assure you of a more level cake. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until done. Cool in pans 5 to 10 minutes. Invert cakes onto cooling racks. Cool completely and spread cake layers with your favorite frosting to make a 3-layer cake.

Fresh Tangerine Cake

Keeping with my Paula Deen dessert weekend I chose to make her Fresh Tangerine Cake for Easter Lunch. I found this in her current issue of Cooking With Paula Deen. I have never worked with tangerines before and thought the challenge might be interesting. I think finding good tangerines was really the challenge and I left that up to my husband.
It baked up very nicely although the 25 minutes was not long enough in my oven. I have found that this is not unusual for a Paula recipe. I think she uses some kind of turbo oven instead of your regular home oven. My cake took 33 minutes, but I’m always leery of stating an exact time based on the experiences I have had with my current rent house oven. So just keep an eye on yours.
The taste was not over powering at all. In fact, it needed more tangerine taste in my opinion. I was happy to see how moist it was since it was so dense. There was plenty of frosting to go around, and next time I will cut my layers in half for a better cake to frosting ratio.

Fresh Tangerine Cake
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 ¾ cups sugar
1 ½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 cup vegetable oil
1 tab tangerine zest
1 cup fresh tangerine juice
3 large eggs
1 (8 oz) container sour cream
See frosting recipe

Preheat oven to 350. Spray 2 (9 inch) round cake pans with cooking spray with flour.
In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Beat in oil, zest, juice, and eggs at medium speed with an electric mixer until combined. Add sour cream, beating until smooth.
Pour batter into prepared pans and bake for 25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Let cool in pans for 10 minutes. Remove cakes from pans and cool completely on wire racks.
Spread Tangerine Cream Cheese Frosting in between layers and on top and sides of cake. Optional: Garnish with candied tangerine zest and pipe remaining frosting around top and bottom of cake.

Tangerine Cream Cheese Frosting
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
½ cup butter, softened
1 tab tangerine zest
3 tab fresh tangerine juice
6 cups confectioner’s sugar

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Beat in zest and juice until combined. Gradually beat in confectioner’s sugar until smooth.