Category Archives: Cakes

Snickerdoodle Cake

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Crunchy sugar cinnamon coating, tender and delicate crumb inside, what’s not to love?

WHAT???? Snickerdoodle cookies in cake form? A dream come true. This cake encompasses all the bits of the cookie we love, but in cake form – perfect for a dessert or just snacking.

PREPARE THE PAN

  •  1 cup granulated sugar
  •  2 teaspoons cinnamon

CAKE

  •  2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  •  2 teaspoons cinnamon
  •  1 teaspoon baking powder
  •  1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  •  1/2 teaspoon salt
  •  1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  •  1 cup granulated sugar
  •  1 cup light brown sugar, packed
  •  3 large eggs, at room temperature
  •  2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  •  1 cup Greek yogurt or sour cream

PREP THE PAN

  1. To a small bowl, add 1 cup granulated sugar, 2 teaspoons cinnamon, and whisk to combine; set aside.
  2. Preheat oven to 325F.
  3. Generously spray a 9-inch (12-cup) Bundt pan with floured cooking spray (or grease the pan with shortening), being careful to cover all the nooks and crannies, as well as the center tube. Gently dust the entire inside of the pan with the cinnamon-sugar mixture. You will only need about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of cinnamon-sugar, but try to evenly coat the inside surface of the pan, including the tube.
  4. Save the remaining cinnamon-sugar mixture for layering in as the filling; set everything aside. (I used less than half the remaining sugar mixture but just couldn’t bring myself to put that much of a sugar layer in a cake that already has 2 cups of sugar in it!)

CAKE

  1. To a large bowl, add the flour, 2 teaspoons cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and whisk to combine; set aside.
  2. To the mixing bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or large mixing bowl and electric mixer), add the butter and beat on medium-high speed for 1 minute.
  3. Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, add 1 cup granulated sugar and mix on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
  4. Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the brown sugar and mix on medium-high speed until the mixture looks light brown and uniform in color, about 2 minutes.
  5. Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the eggs one at a time, mixing on medium speed for 1 minute after each egg.
  6. Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the vanilla and mix on medium speed to incorporate, about 30 seconds.
  7. Add half the flour mixture, half the Greek yogurt or sour cream, and mix on medium-low speed until incorporated, about 1 minute.
  8. Add the remaining flour mixture, remaining Greek yogurt or sour cream, and mix on medium-low speed until incorporated, about 1 minute.
  9. Turn half the batter out into the prepared pan, smoothing the top lightly with a spatula. The batter is quite thick and that’s okay.
  10. Evenly sprinkle the reserved cinnamon-sugar mixture over the top of the batter, which creates the filling as the cake bakes. (As I mentioned earlier, use as much of the sugar mixture as you are comfortable with – I had lots left)
  11. Turn the remaining batter out into the pan, smoothing the top lightly with a spatula. Bake for 55 to 62 minutes (I baked for 59 minutes), or until top is lightly golden brown and set, and a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs, but no batter. Don’t overbake because the cinnamon-sugar crust will become overly crunchy.
  12. Allow cake to cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes before inverting onto a wire rack to cool completely.

I found this recipe on a new site for me, Averie Cooks. This turned out so well that I might be hopping over to her site again to see what else she has going on.

Served for dessert with a dollop of whipping cream, this cake is also so moist and delicious on its own, it is perfect for snacking
The girls are in training to “stylize” my food photos – this is Stella’s version.
Here is Sloan’s interpretation – either one makes me want to take a bite.

Stela was quick to to make sure I saved the recipe so it could get it on the blog. Well, she asked if I screenshot the recipe and when I said I printed it out, her dad told her that was the old fashioned way of taking a screen shot.

Plum Torte

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Or, Sugar Plum Fairy Cake as Leah called it. This is without doubt the most amazing result for the least effort! A quick cake batter that rises beautifully around the plums and your whole house smells like the closing days of summer with those purple plums and cinnamon in the oven.

All those little crevices hold delicious Italian plums!
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup softened unsalted butter
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 12 (ish) plums, pitted and quartered
  • 2 tsp fresh lemon juice
  • cinnamon (anywhere from 1 tsp to 1 tbsp depending on your love of cinnamon)
  • raw sugar (again depending on how much crunch you want)

Heat oven to 350. Prepare a 9 inch springform pan, by lightly spraying with cooking spray, or if like me, you don’t have one that size just use a 9 inch cake pan lined with parchment.

Cream butter & sugar together until light yellow and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time until mixture is again light and fluffy. Add vanilla. Stir in flour, baking powder and salt. Stir just until combined.

Pour into prepared baking pan and smooth the top. Lay your quartered plums around the top.

Sprinkle first with lemon juice, then sprinkle cinnamon over. I didn’t even measure – just sprinkled until it looked good to me. Lastly, sprinkle raw sugar over top, covering all areas, but not so much you can’t see plums! (Of course you could use granulated sugar, but I love the extra crunch of raw sugar).

Bake about 45-50 minutes, until a tester comes out clean. Cool on rack and remove from pan.

This would probably work equally well with any stone fruit, but I’ve only tried it with plums. Let me know if you do try it with another fruit.

This recipe comes from smitten kitchen.com and Deb Perelman claims that it tastes even better the next day, but we certainly didn’t let that happen …..

Look at how many plums are on there, yet the batter rose up above and hid them all!
Ready for the oven, you can see the raw sugar on top, but still see all the fruit as well as the batter.
It’s official, i’ve now done this recipe with any number of fruits and it is always perfect. By far it is my easiest, most rewarding & quick dessert!

Stella’s Quick Icing

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Stella woke up with a desire to make a small layer cake. Takes after her Nana?? 🤣 She quickly put together my yellow cake with some leftover chocolate buttercream icing. The cake batter however was more than we needed for her layers so out came the donut pans.

We also had some blood oranges so she whipped up this quick icing glaze – and instructed me to get it on the blog!

1/2 cup icing sugar

Juice of one blood orange

1/2 tsp lemon juice

Stir together until you have a somewhat thick glaze. Dip your donuts in and allow to set. If you want a thicker coating allow the first one to dry a bit, and then dip again.

Yum, says Stella.

 

Strawberry Shortcake

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This is my favourite basic white cake recipe.  It is quick and easy to do – light, fluffy, and tastes great.  In the spring it is the perfect way to make strawberry shortcake for any occasion.

SS 2

CAKE

1 cup white sugar
1⁄2 cup butter (soft)
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1⁄2 cups all-purpose flour
1 3⁄4 teaspoons baking powder
1⁄2 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

Grease and flour a 9×9 inch pan or line a muffin pan with paper liners.  If you want to make a 9 x 13 cake, or a layer cake, double this recipe.

In a medium bowl, cream together the sugar and butter. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the vanilla.

Combine flour and baking powder, add to the creamed mixture alternately with the milk until batter is smooth.

Scoop batter into the prepared pan.

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes in the preheated oven. For cupcakes, bake 20 to 25 minutes. Cake is done when it springs back to the touch, and a toothpick or tester comes out clean.

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This might just be sweet little Stella’s first whipped cream beater to lick …. but shhhh – don’t tell anyone, Mom and Dad are away!

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5 YEARS LATER – Stella is just as sweet, but now she’s serving up the desserts!

Rhubarb Citrus Bars

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With a hint of citrus these rhubarb bars just scream spring.  I think everybody is glad I found something to bake other than sourdough bread.  

Rubarb citrus 4

Nothing better than the smell of this custard filled rhubarb citrus bar on a rainy spring day.

INGREDIENTS

FOR THE SHORTBREAD:

  • 1 ½ cups/190 grams all-purpose flour
  • ⅓ cup/65 grams granulated sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • ¾ cup/170 grams cold unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), cut into 1-inch pieces

FOR THE FILLING:

  • 10 ounces rhubarb, sliced (2 1/2 cups), plus 1 slender red stalk for the top
  • 1 ¼ cups/250 grams granulated sugar
  • 4 large eggs
  • 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (1 to 2 lemons)
  • 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon finely grated orange or lemon zest
  • Pinch of fine sea salt
  • Confectioners’ sugar, for serving

PREPARATION

  1. Heat oven to 325 degrees and line a 9-by-9-inch pan with parchment paper, leaving two edges long so they overhang the pan by at least 1 inch. (This is for lifting the bars out later.)
  2. In a food processor, pulse together flour, sugar and salt. Add butter and process until a crumbly dough forms. Press dough into the lined pan in an even layer. Don’t clean out the food processor, you’re going to need it.
  3. Bake crust until golden at the edges, 35 to 40 minutes, rotating halfway through. Transfer to a wire rack and raise oven temperature to 350 degrees.
  4. While the crust is baking, make the filling. In a medium saucepan, combine the rhubarb slices and 1 cup sugar. Cook, stirring frequently, over medium-low heat until rhubarb releases its juices. Raise heat and bring to a simmer. Keep simmering, stirring once in a while, until the rhubarb breaks down completely, about 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer the rhubarb and juices to the food processor, and let it sit with the cover off until it cools down a bit, about 15 minutes.
  5. Meanwhile, using a vegetable peeler, lay the very pink rhubarb stalk on its narrower side. From the edge of the stalk, peel a long strip from the stalk. Continue to peel strips from the stalk, flipping it around the other side to keep it even. (This makes it easier to peel, but don’t worry too much about getting uniform strips.) Line up peeled strips and cut into 1 1/2-inch lengths. Some may curl up, and that’s fine. You’ll have about 1 cup strips.
  6. To the food processor, add the eggs, remaining 1/4 cup sugar, lemon juice, flour, zest and salt, and pulse until mixture is puréed. Pour into baked shortbread base, and carefully scatter the rhubarb strips on top. It should look a little like confetti. Bake until the filling is set and puffy, 20 to 30 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely in the pan.
  7. Once cool, use a butter knife to cut at the edges of the crust to release them from the pan, then use the parchment “handles” to lift up and transfer the pastry to a cutting board. Cut into 1 3/4-inch squares. Dust with confectioners’ sugar before serving.

Ready to put together … you can see I’ve added a bit of orange zest to the shortbread crust, loved the way it was aromatic and added a bit of flavour as well.

Rhubarb Citrus 7

The custard is creamy, the rhubarb is tart, and the shortbread crust is buttery …. perfect.

This recipe came from New York Times, and they recommend a 9″ square pan, which I don’t have …. the only adjustments I made (for the sizing) were to use just 3 eggs, and I withheld a bit of the shortbread crust and sprinkled it over the top before baking as a bit of a crumb, and it worked perfectly in my 8″ pan.  Some reviewers suggested less sugar, and I’d agree with that – depending on your rhubarb.  I also didn’t  need to put the rhubarb into the mixer to blend as it cooked down beautifully and I preferred the texture.

Rhubarb citrus 3

You can totally skip the step of those rhubarb ribbons on top, but I love the way they look.  Also, the extra crumb on top is just because I didn’t have a large enough baking vessel, and I’m kind of glad I didn’t ….. love anything with crumb on top.

Rhubarb citrus 5

Just out of the oven and the house smells fabulous!  So hard to let this cool down until it is safe to cut it – must let that custard set ….

Raspberry Coconut Banana Loaf

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Here we are, in the midst of the Covid-19 crisis, I’m working from home, and my stress management is to bake.  Lots.  I planned on making a banana blueberry loaf, but where are the blueberries I was so sure were in my freezer?  Who knows?  Only realized that of course when I was in the midst of the batter, so here we are, and sometimes the best recipes come from necessity!  This is one of those happy circumstances.

banana loaf 2

Just look at that crunchy top!

  • 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg (if you can, trust me, this makes a difference)
  • 1/2 cup toasted shredded coconut

 

  • 1/2 cup melted butter (but not hot)
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 large eggs, beaten
  • 1 tbsp vanilla
  • 3/4 cup mashed banana
  • 1 cup raspberries (fresh or frozen – if frozen DO NOT THAW)

Raw sugar

Preheat oven to 350.

Butter and flour a standard loaf pan (9″ x 5″)

Whisk dry ingredients together in large mixing bowl.

In separate bowl beat together the sugar, melted butter, eggs, vanilla and banana.

When ready to combine, and only then, toss the raspberries with the flour mixture.  This will prevent them from sticking together.  Stir in the liquid mixture, and only stir just until it all comes together.  Do not overmix.

Turn batter into prepared pan and sprinkle the top with raw sugar – you won’t believe how crunchy that top will get – pure delight.

Bake at 350 for at least 60 minutes, use a tester to make sure it is cooked in the middle.  Remove from oven to a cooling rack and allow to sit for 15 minutes before removing from loaf pan.

As per my original plans you could just as easily use fresh or frozen blueberries!

 

Yellow Cake with Chocolate Buttercream

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Stella arrived to the orchard with a plan …. an easy cake that she could frost with a chocolate icing.  This cake fit that description perfectly, and we were all blown away by how absolutely delicious it was.

yellow cake 1

Cake Ingredients

  • 2 and 1/4 cups (266g) cake  flour
  • 2 1/4 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup (230g) unsalted butter, softened & at room temperature
  • 1 and 3/4 cups (350g) granulated sugar
  • 2 large eggs, at room temperature
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup (120g) sour cream, at room temperature
  • 1 cup (240ml) whole milk, at room temperature

Chocolate Fudge Frosting

  • 1 cup (230g) unsalted butter, softened & at room temperature
  • 4 and 1/2 cups (540g) confectioners’ (icing) sugar
  • 3/4 cup (65g) natural unsweetened or dutch-process cocoa powder
  • 1/2 cup (120ml) whole milk
  • 1 Tablespoon light corn syrup*
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • optional: rainbow sprinkles or lightly toasted pecan pieces – roughly chopped

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Generously grease and lightly flour a 12×17 inch half sheet/jelly roll pan. Set aside.  SEE BELOW TO ADJUST FOR DIFFERENT PAN SIZES
  2. Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl. Set aside. Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on high speed until smooth and creamy – about 1 minute. Add the sugar and beat on high speed for 3 full minutes until creamed together fairly well. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. On medium-high speed, add 1 egg at a time, beating well after each addition until both are mixed in. On high speed, beat in the vanilla extract and sour cream. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed.
  3. With the mixer running on low speed, add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients alternating with the milk. Mix each addition just until incorporated. Do not overmix this batter. The batter will be smooth, velvety, and slightly thick.
  4. Spread the cake batter into the prepared pan. Smooth it out into a thin, even layer. Bake for 20-22 minutes or until the top is lightly browned and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Make sure you rotate the cake pan once or twice during bake time if your oven has hot spots. Remove from the oven and allow the cake to cool in the pan placed on a wire rack. As the cake is cooling, make the frosting.

Frosting Instructions

  1. Make the frosting: Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on high speed until pale, smooth, and creamy – about 4 full minutes. Sift the confectioners’ sugar and cocoa together. On low speed, gradually add the sugar/cocoa mixture, followed by the milk, corn syrup, vanilla, and salt. Beat for 1 minute. Turn the mixer up to medium-high speed and beat for 3 full minutes. If the frosting is too thick, add a splash more of milk.
  2. Frost cooled cake and top with sprinkles. Slice and serve. Cover leftovers tightly and store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
  • Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: Cake can be made 1 day in advance, covered tightly at room temperature, and then frosted before serving. Frosting can also be made 1 day ahead of time– cover tightly and keep in the refrigerator. Frosted or unfrosted cake can be frozen up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before serving.
  • Sour Cream: Full-fat sour cream lends the best flavor! You can use plain yogurt instead. I suggest a full-fat variety.
  • Milk: Whole milk is best– the fat is what gives this cake it’s wonderfully rich texture. You can use 2% instead– or even buttermilk!
  • Corn Syrup: This tiny bit of corn syrup makes the frosting uniquely glossy and shiny. You can leave it out if you’d like.
  • Different Size Cakes & Cupcakes: you can use this recipe to make a 9×13 cake. Same oven temperature, just bake for about 35-40 minutes. You can also use this recipe to make about 18-20 cupcakes. Fill cupcake liners halfway. About 20 minutes bake time, same oven temperature.  
  • Frosting:  This makes enough for the larger size pan, or a layer cake, or to frost 18-20 cupcakes.  If you are making this in a 9×13 pan, you will only need about half.  Either halve the recipe or freeze some for another day, it freezes well.

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Team Effort!

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yellow cake 10

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Sloan helping Liv keep the beaters upright …. don’t skip the beating time – in fact, use your timer and you will be amazed at how much fluffier your butter gets.

yellow cake 7

Best part of any baking project, right??

yellow cake 2

These kids …..

yellow cake 6

Stella was firm on the design …. she wanted smooth icing (thanks Sloan for doing that), then she wanted to create spikes ….. took a few tries, but she got it exactly the way she wanted, and then decided it needed a few pecans toasted and sprinkled over top.

yellow cake 4

Stella came up with the pecans for a topping and it was just perfect!

yellow cake 5

Total winner!  And, we are total winners with these 3 little sweeties.

I copied this entirely from Sally’s Baking Addiction, I’ve loved every one of her recipes that I have tried, and my 9 year old granddaughter Sloan insisted I get it on here right away so we don’t forget this recipe!

Pumpkin Donuts with Maple Glaze

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Need a quick dessert?  Not tired of pumpkin yet?  Here you go – ready for the oven in about 10 minutes, and the glaze just takes minutes.  Not only will the house smell amazing, dessert will be awesome!

Pumpkin donuts 1

Spend a few dollars and buy yourself a silicone donut mold, I’ve had so much fun with it!

Doughnuts:

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • One 15-ounce can pumpkin puree
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 1/3 cup vegetable oil
  • 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3 large eggs
  1. For the doughnuts: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Whisk the flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder and salt together in a medium bowl.
  3. Beat the pumpkin puree, sugar, vegetable oil, butter, vanilla and eggs and together in another large bowl until smooth.
  4. Add the flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture and beat until just combined.
  5. Fill three 6-cup nonstick doughnut pans with the batter so that each mold is almost full. Smooth the tops with a moistened finger.  (I always put my batter into a ziplock bag and pipe it into the molds, so much easier, and way less messy)
  6. Bake the doughnuts until a wooden pick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 15 minutes. Invert the doughnuts onto a cooling rack.

(I never seem to have pumpkin pie spice, so you can easily mix up 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ground ginger and 1/4 tsp each of cloves and freshly ground nutmeg to equal the 2 tsp)

pumpkin donuts 3

Dry ingredients whisked, and the wet stuff in my stand mixer, but you could easily do it all by hand, it only takes a few minutes to come together.

pumpkin donuts 2

pumpkin donuts 4

Once you get it all together, don’t overtax!  Just enough to bring it all together.

 

Glaze:

  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter
  • 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
  • 1 cup sifted confectioners’ sugar (this is important – gets rid of lumps!)
  • optional: 1/2 teaspoon maple extract

Heat butter and maple syrup in small sauce pan, just until butter is melted.  Quickly whisk in the sifted confectioners’ (icing) sugar until smooth.

It is best if you make this before the donuts as that allows the glaze to thicken slightly.

Dip the slightly cooled donuts in the glaze and allow to cool.  Best served that day, but no one is going to complain about a day old donut!  This makes enough to generously DOUBLE DIP about 12 donuts.  Seriously, go for the double dip, that maple glaze is killer good and courtesy of Sally’s Baking Addiction – check out her blog, all her recipes are great.

The donuts however, come from Valerie Bertinelli’s show and I’ve never had a fail on one of her recipes – they are so good and usually pretty quick to make.

Cake Donuts with Fruit Glaze

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Delish

These fun little donuts are delicious!  So easy to make, and even quicker to bake.  The toppings can be anything you like to suit the occasion.

I bought silicone donut molds to bake with, and they are so much fun!  This recipe comes together quickly, and bakes even faster.  Whatever you top them with, they are sure to be a winner.  Today I did a raspberry glaze and an orange peach glaze, but I included a few others here.

Realistically you can make any toppings you like, next time I might do chocolate with toasted nuts on top ….

Ingredients

  • 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/2 cup buttermilk
  • 1/4 cup flavorless oil, like canola or vegetable
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/4 cup water
  • Sprinkles for decorating

Special equipment:

a 12-cavity donut pan and a piping bag

  • To make the donuts: preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
  • Coat a 12-cavity donut pan with cooking spray and set aside.
  • Whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and baking soda in a large bowl.

  • Cake Donuts 1

    Always whisk your dry ingredients together first, that way you can use the same whisk for the wet ingredients.

  • Whisk together the egg, buttermilk, oil, vanilla and water in a medium bowl.

  • Cake Donuts 2

    Yes, I’m often a bit generous with my vanilla ……

  • Whisk the wet mixture into the dry mixture and stir to combine.
  • Fill a piping bag with the batter and pipe the batter into the donut pans, filling each cavity halfway. This could get a little messy.

  • Cake Donuts 3

    I used a ziplock bag and just snipped the end off.

    Cake Donuts 5

  • Bake until a toothpick inserted into a donut comes out clean, about 12-14 minutes.
  • Check your oven at 12 minutes, if a toothpick comes out clean, you are done.
  • Cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Remove to a rack and cool completely.

  • Cake Donuts 6

    I think I might have overfilled these a touch, as they did get a little lip on them.

  • To decorate the donuts, dip them halfway into the glaze and then allow excess glaze to drip off. Sprinkle the tops with a little fun and enjoy.

Have you seen “Girl Meets Farm”?  It is on Food Network and features Molly Yeh.  Her recipes are easy to follow, usually contain simple ingredients and I love everything I’ve tried.  This recipe is from her “baby shower” episode.

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Here are some glaze suggestions, also from that episode:

  • Orange Glaze:

    1. Combine the confectioners’ sugar, honey and 4 tablespoons of the juice in a bowl. Add more juice little by little until the mixture is spreadable (you might not need the full remaining tablespoon). It should be quite thick yet spreadable.

    Rhubarb Glaze:

    1. Put the rhubarb, granulated sugar and 1/2 cup water into a small pot on a stovetop. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cook until the sugar is dissolved and the rhubarb is tender, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly. Pour into a blender and puree until smooth, then transfer to a bowl. Add confectioners’ sugar as needed for taste and consistency.

    Blueberry Glaze:

    1. Put the blueberries, granulated sugar and 1/4 cup water into a small pot on a stovetop and cook over medium heat. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer. Simmer until the berries have burst and the sugar is dissolved, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly. Pour into a blender and puree until smooth. Pour into a small bowl, straining if necessary, then add the confectioners’ sugar. Whisk to combine, adding more confectioners’ sugar as needed for taste and consistency.

Irresistible Turtle Cheesecake

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turtle cheesecake 4

Not sure how a cheesecake can be creamy, delectable and somehow light at the same time.  As an added bonus, it’s easy to make.

 

3 cups cups finely crushed chocolate wafers (or use a combo of graham and chocolate wafers)

3 Tbsp. butter, melted – use your judgement, may take a little more to get the crumbs to stick together
1/4 cup caramel sauce (plus more for drizzle)
1/4 cup chocolate sauce (plus more for drizzle)
1 cup chopped and roasted pecans
3 pkg. (8 oz. each) Cream Cheese, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. vanilla
3 eggs
I used a 9 1/2″ springform pan for this cake – depending on the size of your pan, you may need to adjust slightly for the amount of crumb.
Heat oven to 325°F.
Combine cookie crumbs and butter; press onto bottom and 1-1/2 inches up side of 9 1/2 inch springform pan.
Sprinkle toasted and chopped pecans over crust layer, and top with the caramel sauce.

turtle cheesecake 1

I used a combination of chocolate and graham crumbs and really loved the way it turned out,

Beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla in large bowl with mixer until blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing on low speed after each one, until really smooth.  Pour over caramel layer in crust.  With an offset spatula smooth the top.
I always like to bake my cheesecakes in a water bath – this makes them even smoother and creamier, as well as less likely to crack on top.
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TIP – Double wrap your cheesecake pan with foil, then set in large roasting pan.  Put this in your preheated oven, and ONLY THEN fill with hot water until about 1/2 way up the sides of the springform pan.
Bake 1 hour 5 min. to 1 hour 10 min. or until center is almost set. Run knife around rim of pan to loosen cake; cool before removing rim. Refrigerate 4 hours.
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When the cake is completely cooled, remove from springform pan and sprinkle reserved pecans over.  Then drizzle with both caramel and chocolate sauces.  Irresistible.
turtle cheesecake 5
You can be as creative as you like with both the caramel and chocolate sauces.  They are easy enough to make, but if you are inclined to take it easy on yourself, just buy them.