Archive for the ‘Easy Cakes’ Category
Quick Tiramisu with Less Fat
It Only Takes 15 Minutes to Prepare this Lower Fat Tiramisu!
Being from an Italian family, I had Tiramisu a lot when I was growing up and I always loved it! The sweet coffee and cheese taste that just melts in your mouth…who couldn’t love Tiramisu?! But I was always under the impression that it was difficult to make…and also high in fat with all that mascarpone cheese. Well, I just found this recipe on Eatingwell.com for an easy and quick version that’s also lower in fat! It doesn’t make a huge cake like the kind I’m used to seeing at my family gatherings…actually the recipe says it makes 6 servings. For me that would mean 3 for me and 3 for my boyfriend…over 3 days of course! Whichever way you want to eat it, please enjoy and let me know how you like the easy and quick version of Tiramisu!
BABY TIRAMISU
1/2 cup nonfat ricotta cheese (4 ounces)
2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar (or one of our recommended natural sweeteners)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
12 ladyfingers (about 1 3/4 ounces)
4 tablespoons brewed espresso or strong coffee, divided
2 tablespoons bittersweet chocolate chips, melted (see Tip)
Combine ricotta, sweetener, vanilla and cinnamon in a medium bowl.
Place 6 ladyfingers in a 9-by-5-inch (or similar size) loaf pan. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons espresso (or coffee). Spread the ricotta mixture over the ladyfingers. Place another layer of ladyfingers over the ricotta and drizzle with the remaining 2 tablespoons espresso (or coffee). Drizzle with melted chocolate. Refrigerate until the chocolate is set, about 30 minutes.
Tip: To melt chocolate: Microwave on Medium for 1 minute. Stir, then continue microwaving on Medium in 20-second intervals until melted, stirring after each interval. Or place in the top of a double boiler over hot, but not boiling, water. Stir until melted.
Recipe Nutrition, a recipe yields six servings: Per serving: 107 calories; 2 g fat (1 g saturated fat, 0 g mono unsaturated fat); 3 mg cholesterol; 18 g carbohydrates; 3 g protein; 0 g fiber; 125 mg sodium; 29 mg potassium.
Easy Slow Cooker Desserts
Make Cheesecakes, Cakes, Rice Puddings & More in Your Slow Cooker!
When I think of slow cookers I think of my sister’s sweet and sour tender ribs or my friend’s delicious savory chicken, but I never think about desserts…until now. I just found a cool article written by Natalie Haughton, who is also the author of Slow & Easy: Fast-Fix Recipes for Your Electric Slow Cooker. In the article she shares cake, cheesecake, rice pudding, strata and fudge sauce recipes which all sound easy and delicious! I love all of the tips she gives to making desserts in the slow cooker, like watching the time carefully in order to prevent over baking, which she admits to doing. Unlike cooking dinner, desserts need less time to bake and should be monitored throughout. All in all the article is very informative and the desserts sound easy and quick! Please let me know if you try one…I’ve included the Chocolate Fudge cake recipe here.
CHOCOLATE FUDGE CAKE WITH PEANUT BUTTER GANACHE
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
Dash salt
1 stick (4 ounces) butter, melted
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1 tablespoon vanilla
1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Butter bottom and sides of a 4-quart round electric slow cooker. Line bottom with a round of nonstick foil cut to fit bottom of pot. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk gently to blend dry ingredients. Add melted butter, vinegar, vanilla and 11/2 cups cold water. Whisk vigorously until batter is well-blended and smooth. Stir in chocolate chips.
Turn batter into lined pot, spreading out evenly. Cover and cook on the low heat setting 4 1/2 to 5 hours, or until a cake tester inserted in center comes out clean. (Do not cook on the high heat setting as the cake will burn around the sides.)
Uncover and remove insert from cooker. Carefully run a knife all around edges to loosen cake. Let cool in pot 15 to 20 minutes. Then run knife around sides again before gently turning cake out of pot. You may have to coax it a bit with a spatula. Peel off foil and carefully turn cake right side up on a serving plate. Let cool completely.
Spread warm Peanut Butter Ganache over top and sides of cake. Use a small offset spatula or a dinner knife to draw swirls or a patterned design on top of cake. Let cool until set. Refrigerate until serving time. Makes 10 to 12 servings.
PEANUT BUTTER GANACHE
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup chunky peanut butter
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
In a glass bowl or a 2-cup glass measuring cup, combine all 3 ingredients. Heat in a microwave oven on high power for about 1 1/2 minutes or until chocolate is melted when stirred. Mix until ganache is smooth and well-blended. Let stand or refrigerate briefly until frosting is of spreading consistency. Makes about 1 cup.
Angel Food Cake…Fat Free!
Homemade Angel Food Cake Tastes Better & Easy to Make!
Every year my sister asks our mother to make her an angel food cake for her birthday. I’m a vanilla cake person myself, but I have to admit the angel food cake is quite delicious. My mom adds a layer of chocolate pudding to the store bought cake which adds some depth and flavor since the cake alone is so light and simple. Well, after doing some reading about angel food cakes I learned that the homemade kind has a much nicer, sweeter taste than store bought, and can stand alone without puddings and icings and such. I came across an article at GadsdenTimes.com that gives great tips on making homemade angel food cake and it even claims that it’s easy to make! One simple tip is to use room-temperature egg whites because they will beat to a greater volume. Even better, the article claims that angel food cake is fat-free! That sounds good to me! The best part is that the article includes a recipe for Vanilla Butter Nut Angel Food Cake…doesn’t that sound delicious? I’m excited to make this because the recipe sounds easy and delicious, plus I’m curious to find out if angel food cake really does taste great on its own! Let me know what you think if you try this out!
VANILLA BUTTERNUT ANGEL FOOD CAKE
1 1/4 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 cup cake flour
1 1/2 cups egg whites (12 to 14 egg whites)
1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon vanilla butternut flavoring
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In small bowl, stir together the confectioners’ sugar and flour; set aside.
In a large bowl, combine egg whites, cream of tartar, vanilla extract, vanilla butternut flavoring and salt. With mixer at high speed, beat until well mixed. Beating at high speed, sprinkle in granulated sugar, 2 tablespoons at a time; beat just until sugar dissolves and whites form stiff peaks. Do NOT scrape bowl during beating. With rubber spatula, fold in flour mixture, about 1/4 cup at a time, just until flour disappears. Pour mixture into ungreased 10-inch angel food pan and with spatula, cut through batter to break any large air bubbles.
Bake 35 minutes or until top of cake springs back when lightly touched with finger. Any cracks on surface should look dry. Invert cake in pan on funnel; cool completely. With spatula, loosen cake from pan and remove to plate. Makes 12 servings.
Easy Sour Cream Coffee Cake
PREPARE, BAKE AND EAT IN 1 HOUR!
I had such a huge craving for cake today. Some days it’s chocolate or apple pie, but today it was cake…with cinnamon. Since I had some left over sour cream from last night’s taco dinner I started looking for a good coffee cake recipe. I always found it kind of funny how coffee cake doesn’t have coffee in it, but I guess that’s a good thing because it means my boyfriend will try it (he doesn’t like coffee). I found a recipe called Amazing Pecan Coffee Cake from Allrecipes.com and it turned out great! The ingredients are simple and it took me less than an hour from start to finish…now that’s my kind of dessert, easy and quick! After baking for about 25 minutes my kitchen began to fill with a sweet vanilla aroma. I barely waited until it came out of the oven to try a piece! It was so soft, moist, sweet and delicious! I just love the light texture, so if you’re looking for a dense cake, this isn’t it. The cake has such a wonderful creamy vanilla flavor that you don’t even need the topping…although it’s crunchy and delicious too! For a prettier presentation you can even make double the topping and put half in the middle of the cake. I know you’re going to love this one!
AMAZING PECAN COFFEE CAKE
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 cup butter, softened (I used margarine)
1 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter, melted
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a 9×13 inch pan with aluminum foil, and lightly grease with vegetable oil or cooking spray. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
In a large bowl, cream the butter until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in sour cream, then sugar. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. By hand, fold in the flour mixture, mixing just until incorporated. Spread batter into prepared pan.
To make the Topping: In a medium bowl, mix together brown sugar, pecans and cinnamon. Stir in melted butter until crumbly. Sprinkle over cake batter in pan.
Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack, and remove foil.
Easy White Chocolate Cheesecake
Only 15 minutes to prep this gorgeous cheesecake!
Growing up I always thought of cheesecakes as the most fancy, decadent desserts and I assumed they were difficult to make. It was only when I got older and actually baked one that I learned that cheesecake isn’t so intimidating. Of course, there are many cheesecake recipes out there that take a lot of effort to make, and require lots of ingredients. But even the complicated ones didn’t always pass the taste test with my family. However, I want to share a recipe that I’ve made several times and my family loves (I think it’s a recipe from Kraft so I can’t take the credit for this one!). I file it in my “desserts: easy and quick” recipe book. I was so impressed by it because it not only tastes amazing, but it looks great! Very presentable! You can even make the graham cracker crust yourself because it’s super easy…or you can buy one already made, which is even easier! This is a great easy dessert for Valentine’s Day or a special anniversary. In fact, I chose to share this one today because it’s my parents’ 32nd wedding anniversary…Congratulations Mom and Dad!!
WHITE CHOCOLATE CHEESECAKE
2 packages Cream Cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
3 squares (3 oz) White Baking chocolate, melted
1 (9 inch) pie crust, either graham crumbs or oreo crumbs
3 Tablespoons of your favorite jam (red looks nice!)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Mix cream cheese, sugar and vanilla with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add eggs and blend well. Stir in white chocolate and pour into crust.
Microwave jam in small bowl on HIGH for 15 seconds or until melted. Drop small teaspoonfuls of jam onto cheesecake then take a knife and cut through batter to create a marble effect.
Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool, then refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight.
P.S. I always make my own graham cracker crust because it’s faster than driving to the store to buy one. Here’s what I do:
Graham Cracker Crust
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/3 cup sugar
Mix all ingredients together in the pie dish. Pat down the crumbs to form a crust. That’s it! Simple as pie!