Decorated Cakes

The Cake that I made for the Spring Meeting for the United Methodist Women.

The train cake that I made for one of my friend's son's second birthday. It is the cake that I am most proud of right now.

Cookies and Cream Cupcakes

Ingredients:

18 chocolate sandwich cookies, plus additional as needed

Solid vegetable shortening, for greasing the pans
Flour, for dusting the pans
1 package white cake mix (18.25 ounces, with pudding)
1 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
2 cups heavy cream (whipping cream)

Directions:

Place the chocolate sandwich cookies, in batches, in a food processor and process until you have crumbs. You should have 2 1/4 cup crumbs. If not, process more cookies until you have the correct amount. Set aside.

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350F.
Generously grease two 9-inch round cake pans with solid vegetable shortening, then dust with flour. Shake out the excess flour. Set the pans aside.
Place the cake mix, water, oil and eggs in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes more, scraping down the sides again if needed. The batter should look well combined.
Fold in 1 cup of the cookie crumbs until well distributed. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans, smoothing it out with the rubber spatula. Place the pans in the oven side by side.
Place a clean, large mixing bowl and clean electric mixer beaters in the refrigerator while the cake bakes. You will use these to prepare the whipped cream.
Bake the cakes until they spring back when lightly pressed with your finger, 28 to 32 minutes. Remove the pans from the oven and place them on wire racks to cool for 10 minutes.
Run a dinner knife around the edge of each layer and invert each onto a rack, then invert again onto another rack so that the cakes are right side up. Allow to cool completely, 30 minutes more.
Preare the whipped cream: Remove the chilled bowl and beaters from the refrigerator. Pour the cream into the bowl and beat with the electric mixer on high speed until it forms stiff peaks, 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 minutes.

Gently fold in 1 cup of the remaining cookie crumbs, distributing them well. Chill the whipped cream until the cake has cooled completely.
Carefully slice the cake layers in half horizontally, using a large, sharp serrated bread knife or a long piece of unflavored dental floss. You will have four layers.
Place the bottom half of a cake layer on a serving platter, cut side up. Spread with some of the whipped cream. Top with the matching top half of the layer, cut side down. Spread with whipped cream.

Next, add the bottom half of the second layer, cut side up and spread with whipped cream. Top with the matching top half of the layer, cut side down. Spread the top and sides of the entire cake with the remaining whipped cream using clean, smooth strokes.
Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup cookie crumbs on top of the cake. Place the cake in a cake saver or under a glass dome and chill until time to serve.

Store this cake, in a cake saver, under a glass dome, or lightly covered with a waxed paper, in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Picture from my kitchen and recipe from the Cake Mix Doctor.

Chocolate Cake with Marshmallow Filling

Ingredients:

Cake:

1 Box of Chocolate Cake Mix

4 Eggs

1/3 cup of Oil

1 1/4 cups of Chocolate Caramel Coffee Creamer

Filling:

Marshmallow Filling:
1/4 cup Margarine or butter, softened
1 jar (7 oz) Marshmallow crème
1 tsp Vanilla
1 pkg (16 oz) Powdered sugar
1 - 2 Tb Chocolate Caramel Coffee Creamer, one Tbs at a time

Directions:

1. HEAT oven to 350°F. Coat two 8 or 9-inch round cake pans with no-stick cooking spray.
2. PREPARE and bake cake as directed on package using oil, Chocolate Caramel Coffee Creamer and eggs.
3. While the cake is in the oven mix together the ingredients for the filling.
4. Cool cakes in pans for 10 minutes.
5. Remove from pans. Place on racks to cool completely, about 20 minutes.
6. Cut the cake into two even pieces and place the filling in the middle. Frost the cake.