Strawberry & Nutella Shortcake Shooters

These Strawberry & Nutella Shortcake Shooters are the perfect little bite-sized desserts and are a fun and easy take on a classic summer favorite treat! Cake, strawberries, nutella, and whipped topping are all layered into little glasses and ready to enjoy. It is strawberry season and these shooters are a great way to enjoy fresh, perfectly sweet, and juicy summer strawberries!

Strawberry & Nutella Shortcake Shooters: (adapted from Cheeky Kitchen)

• 1 box Betty Crocker Yellow Cake Mix, prepared and baked according to package directions
• 1-1/2 cups strawberries, finely diced
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 10 teaspoons Nutella
• 1 (8-oz.) tub cool whip
• 10 small, whole strawberries

 Cut cake in half, wrap one half very well and store in freezer for later use.

With the second half of cake, crumble it into small pieces. Press a small amount of cake into the bottom of 10 small shot glasses.

In a small bowl, combine the strawberries and sugar. Spoon a bit of strawberries over the cake layer in the shot glasses.

Spoon a teaspoon of Nutella over the strawberries.

Place a second layer of cake over the Nutella layer. Top with a spoonful of cool whip. Garnish with a single strawberry atop each shot glass. Serve immediately, or store chill until ready to serve, for up to an hour.

Hostess "Ho Ho" Cake

This super easy Hostess "Ho Ho" Cake is a great way to bring back fond childhood memories! Which of these was your favorite hostess snack to get in your lunch? Mine was the Hostess Cupcake, and I think I will just have to make a homemade version of those sometime soon as well!

I made this cake to take over to my aunt who just had shoulder surgery. She is a huge chocolate fan and I thought that this cake would be perfect for her! A moist chocolate cake with a super sweet and creamy vanilla buttercream filling and a chocolate glaze! What is there not to love about this cake? It was a huge hit!

"Ho Ho" Cake: (adapted from How Sweet It Is)

For the cake:

-1 box of your chocolate cake mix, plus the ingredients called for on the box or use your favorite chocolate cake recipe (this is mine) 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a jelly roll pan with non-stick cooking spray, set aside. Prepare chocolate cake according to package directions. Pour batter into prepared pan and spread around until it's even. Bake for 15-20 minutes.

Remove cake and let cool for 30 minutes. While cake is cooling, prepare the middle layer.

 

For the middle layer:

-1/2 cup butter, softened

-1/2 cup vegetable shortening

-4 cups powdered sugar

-2-3 tablespoons milk

Cream butter and shortening in a large mixing bowl. Gradually add remaining ingredients and beat until mixture is thick, combined, and spreadable. Spread in an even layer on the chocolate cake. Set in the freezer for 15 minutes while you make the chocolate glaze.

For the chocolate glaze:

-1/2 cup butter

-1/2 cup cocoa powder

-2 cups powdered sugar

-2-4 tablespoons milk

In a medium size pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the cocoa powder and whisk until smooth. Remove from heat and mix in the powdered sugar and milk. Remove cake from freezer and evenly frost with the glaze. Store in the refrigerator.

Funfetti Birthday Cake Batter Dip!

I am so excited to share this Funfetti Birthday Cake Batter Dip with you! It is just so fun and bright and who doesn't love colorful sprinkles?! I came up with this idea after making the Chocolate Chip M&M Cookie Dough Dip, which was a huge hit! As I have mentioned before I absolutely love anything that is cake batter flavored; cake batter ice cream, which is still on my list of things to make and this yummy cake batter bark, just to name a couple. So, I am always looking for ways to make something cake batter flavored!   

And let me tell you this dip is spot on! It tastes exactly like cake batter! And once again, everyone loved it and it was devoured in about 10 minutes! Most of them liked it even better than the Chocolate Chip M&M Cookie Dough Dip, and they really liked that. This would be perfect for any birthday or even for a superbowl party. It is so simple and quick to make, very portable, and perfect for dipping. I hope you enjoy this as much as we did! We ate it with vanilla wafers but choose whatever you like for your dippers.

Funfetti Cake Batter Dip:

Ingredients:

-1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted and cooled

-1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened

-1/2 cup powdered sugar

-1 cup Pillsbury Funfetti Cake Mix

-1 teaspoon vanilla

-1 tablespoon sprinkles

Directions:

1. Melt butter in microwave and set aside to cool.

2. Beat the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and cake mix together for 2 minutes with an electric mixer.

3. Add the vanilla and slowly beat in the cooled butter and beat for another 2 minutes.

4. Stir in the sprinkles.

5. Pour into a serving bowl and refrigerate.

6. Garnish with additional sprinkles, if desired.

 Serve with vanilla wafers or your choice of dippers!

*After being refrigerated it gets hard, so let it soften about 15 minutes before serving.

Dig in!

Cranberry Almond Cake

I made a delicious Cranberry Almond Cake, but, unfortunately my pictures didn't turn out. Usually when that happens I don't post the recipe,but, this cake was too good to not share with you, so, I am blogging about it anyways! I found the recipe from one of my favorite blogs, Lick The Bowl Good, be sure to check out Monica's blog, she always has wonderful recipes and photos, and then you can see what this cake looks like!

This cake caught my eye because we had a bag of fresh cranberries in our fridge leftover from the holidays that needed to be used up and I had slivered almonds that I bought for a different recipe that I never ended up making. Perfect! I had all the ingredients and the cake seemed very simple to make, and it was! The cake reminded me of a coffeecake, it was incredibly moist and tender and it was filled with fresh tart cranberries which complemented the sweetness of the cake, and then it was topped off with a sweet and crunchy brown sugar and almond topping. Everyone loved it and it is perfect for dessert, breakfast, or a snack!

The only problem that I had with this cake is that it took much longer to bake than the recipe states, so I followed Monica's advice and upped the temperature to 325 degrees after about 1 hour and 30 minutes and baked it for about 10-15 minutes more and then it was done.

Cranberry Almond Cake:

For the Streusal:

-1 cup slivered almonds
-2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
-2 tablespoons light brown sugar, packed

For the Cake:

-2 cups all-purpose flour
-1 teaspoon baking powder
-1/4 teaspoon salt
-3 large eggs
-2 cups granulated sugar
-3/4 cup butter, melted and cooled
-1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
-1 bag (12 oz.) fresh cranberries

Make the Streusal: Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Grease a 10-inch round springform pan.

Combine the almonds, butter and brown sugar in a medium bowl. Work the mixture between your fingers to form large crumbs. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Make the Cake: Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl, set aside. Combine the eggs and granulated sugar in a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer on medium high speed until the mixture is lightened and increased in volume, about 5 minutes.

With the mixer on low, add the butter in a slow stream. Turn the mixer to medium speed and beat for another 2 minutes. Stir in the vanilla.

Gently but thoroughly fold in the flour mixture, 1/2 cup at a time. Stir in the cranberries.

Scrape the batter into prepared pan, smoothing the top with a spatula. Sprinkle the streusal over the batter. Bake the cake until it is golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes (mine took over 1 hour and 30 minutes).

Let the cake cool in pan on a cooling rack for 10 minutes. Release the sides of the pan and use a large spatula to slide the cake from the pan bottom to a wire rack. Cool completely, cut into wedges and serve.

Store uneaten cake in a cake keeper or wrap in plastic wrap and store at room temperature for up to 5 days.

A Delicious Cake For My 100th Post!

Here it is, my 100th post, a Chocolate Butterscotch Butterfinger Cake or how about CBB Cake to shorten it up a bit! And I must say that this cake is a pretty darn fabulous one! I think there are several different names for this type of cake, like, "better then sex chocolate cake" or "Harrison Ford cake", and I guess this cake gets its name because of how utterly delicious and divine it is! And I mean really, really yummy and so easy to make. It is usually made with toffee bits and caramel topping but I switched it up a bit, and here's how I did it, and feel free to swap in your favorites! All you do is make your favorite chocolate cake or make a chocolate cake mix according to directions, then you poke holes all over the hot cake, and pour a super sweet glaze, which is a combination of sweetened condensed milk and butterscotch ice cream topping, all over the cake while it is still warm so the glaze can soak into the cake. Finally, it gets topped with creamy Cool Whip and topped with lots and lots of crispy crushed up Butterfingers.

Sweet, dense, super moist, gooey, creamy, cool, chocolately, butterscotchy, and crunchy all in this one bite is what makes this cake so AMAZING!

Chocolate Butterscotch Butterfinger Cake:

-1 recipe for HERSHEY'S "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake, found here, or 1 box of your favorite cake mix

-1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

-1 (12-ounce) jar butterscotch topping

-1 (12-ounce) container Cool Whip

-2 regular sized Butterfinger candy bars, crushed

1. Prepare the cake according to directions. Immediately after removing the cake from the oven, poke holes with a wooden skewer or fork liberally all over the cake.

2. In a medium sized bowl, combine the sweetened condensed milk and butterscotch topping and then pour it all over the hot cake.

3. Cool cake completely, then spread Cool Whip over the top, then sprinkle with crushed Butterfingers. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Funfetti Christmas Tree Bars

Merry Christmas!

Funfetti Cookie Bars:

Ingredients:

-1 box Pillsbury Funfetti Cake Mix

-1/3 cup oil

-2 eggs

-1 can Pillsubury Funfetti frosting

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 13x9-inch pan with non-stick cooking spray. Combine the cake mix, oil, and eggs until well moistened. Spread evenly into prepared pan. Bake about 15 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack and frost with funfetti frosting and decorate as desired. 

*I used cookie cutters to cut out the Christmas trees and then frosted and decorated them! 

Festive Funfetti Cake Batter Bark

I love, love Funfetti Cake and Funfetti Frosting! It is my absolute favorite, and I don't care that they come from a box and a can : ) I also love anything that is cake batter related! Cake batter ice cream is my all time favorite ice cream flavor hands down! So, when I stumbled upon a recipe for cake batter bark on How Sweet It Is, I was very intrigued and tried it immediately with a few adaptations! I used only white chocolate instead of both white and regular chocolate, I used a festive Funfetti Cake mix instead of yellow cake mix and I added cream and Funfetti Frosting to the mix! I must say this bark turned out really, really tasty and super cute and it is absolutely perfect for holiday gift giving. The only thing I will change about it next time is to add more dry cake mix to pump up the cake batter taste, it needed a little bit more of that flavor!

Enjoy!

Festive Funfetti Cake Batter Bark:

-1 (11-ounce) package vanilla/white chocolate chips

-1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

-1 heaping teaspoon Funfetti Cake mix

-1 heaping tablespoon Funfetti frosting

-sprinkles

1. Line a 8x8-inch baking pan with aluminum foil and spray with non-stick cooking spray, set aside.

2. In a heatproof bowl, microwave the white chocolate chips and the cream in 30 second intervals until completely melted and smooth, about a minute and a half. Immediately stir in the cake mix and the frosting. Pour into the prepared pan and decorate with sprinkles.

3. Refrigerate until it hardens and then break it up into pieces. Store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

 

Ghirardelli Triple Chocolate Truffle Cake & Outstanding Brownie Pecan Pies

I hope that everyone had a wonderful, relaxing, and restful Thanksgiving and Thanksgiving weekend! I sure did, I was surrounded with family and loved ones and ate lots of delicious food, my favorites to eat on Thanksgiving are sweet potatoes and stuffing covered in my grandma's mushroom gravy! I also went to see Disney's Tangled, the movie, which was just too cute for words, and did a little shopping, but not on black friday. Dessert is my favorite meal of the day, everyday, and Thanksgiving is no different! We had the classics like pumpkin pie and some kind of jello dessert and I wan ted to makea dessert that wasn't so traditional so I made this deliciously rich and decadant truffle cake. It was very chocolately, smooth and creamy and melted in your mouth. It was almost like pudding, yummy! Everyone enjoyed it and liked the little change. I also made two fabulous brownie pecan pies from Bakerella, you can find the recipe on her site, I made the fudgey version, and oh boy was it ever fabulous, I was super excited when I saw this pie posted on her blog. I didn't have time to snatch any pictures, but, they were so good! All you do is take a couple frozen deep dish pie shells and whip up a simple boxed brownie mix and a quick pecan pie filling. Then you divide the prepared brownie mix and pecan pie filling between the two pie shells and bake. They turned out perfectly, a flaky pie crust, topped with fudgey brownie and gooey, sweet, and crunchy pecan pie filling! You get to eat two desserts in one! And, if you really want to make it a little richer, you can top it with whip cream and drizzle it with caramel! 

Ingredients:

-3 cups Ghiradelli semi-seet chocolate chips

-1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

-8 large eggs, chilled

-1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup heavy cream

-1 cup Ghirardelli milk chocolate chips

-1 (6-ounce) container fresh raspberries, for garnish

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Arrange a rack in center of oven. Butter or spray the bottom and sides of a 9 by 2-inch round cake pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.

2. In the top of a double boiler or in a heatproof bowl, over barely simmering water, melt the semi-sweet chocolate chips and butter, stirring occasionally until smooth. Cool slightly.

3. Meanwhile, in a large bowl with an electric mixer fitted with the whip attachment, whip the eggs and salt on medium speed until doubled in volume, about 5 minutes. Gently fold the whipped eggs, a third at a time, into melted chocolate. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan.

4. Prepare a water bath for the cake by placing the cake in a larger pan, and filling the large pan halfway up the sides of the cake pan with hot, but not boiling water.

5. Bake for about 40 minutes, or until the cake pulls away from the edges and the center is set. Remove the pan from the water bath to a cooling rack, and cool the cake completely in the pan. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. Remove the cake from the pan and invert onto a plate to unmold. 

6. To prepare ganache, bring heavy cream to a simmer in a small saucepan over low heat. Pour the heated cream over the milk chocolate chips. Stir gently until smooth and allow to cool slightly. When the ganache is still warm to the touch, pour over the top of cake and spread evenly to cover. Garnish with fresh raspberries if desired. Chill the cake until the ganache sets, about 30 minutes. 

Butterscotch Apple Cake

This is a simple recipe for a yummy apple snack cake filled with diced apples and cinnamon and it gets topped off with butterscotch chips. This is really quick to come together and get in the oven and it comes out moist from the apples and the oil. The aroma throughout the house while it is baking is very enticing and smells like just like autumn. The flavor combination of the apples, cinnamon and butterscotch chips is so tasty!

Butterscotch Apple Cake: (recipe courtesy Sugar Plum)

-2 1/2 cups flour

-2 teaspoons baking powder

-1 teaspoon baking soda

-1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

-3/4 teaspoon salt

-1 cup oil

-1 cup granulated sugar

-2 large eggs, room temperature

-1 teaspoon vanilla extract

-3 cups diced peeled apple

-2 cups butterscotch chips

Heat oven to 325 degrees F. Coat a 13x9-inch glass baking dish with cooking spray.

In a medium mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.  

In a large mixing bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, beat together the oil, sugar, eggs and vanilla for 2-3 minutes or until well combined and doubled in volume. Reduce mixer speed to low and beat in flour mixture until just combined. Stir in apple until combined. Batter will be thick.

Spread batter into prepared baking dish. Evenly sprinkle with butterscotch chips. Bake 45-50 minutes or until well risen, golden brown, and cake pulls away from edges of the dish. Cool on a wire rack.

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

Beautiful presentation!

Bright red cherries that make the cake pop!

Mmmm pineapple, one of my favorite fruits!

Brown sugar and buttery goodness!

The idea of cooking a cake upside down is an old technique that started many centuries ago when cakes were cooked in cast iron skillets. It was simple to add various types of fruit and sugar in the bottom of a pan and then top it off with a simple cake batter and cook it over a fire. The history of the use of pineapple in an upside-down cake came about sometime after 1911 when James Dole's engineer invented a machine to cut his pineapple into rings, producing canned pineapple. Soon, the convenient pineapple rings were used in this old technique of the skillet cake. 

This pineapple upside-down cake has the perfect combination of flavors and textures. The cake is very moist, has a tender crumb, and has a slight kick from the use buttermilk. It has a rich, sweet, sticky, and caramel flavored topping from the melted butter and brown sugar combo, which is my favorite part, and the pineapple and sweet topping complement each other very well. This is a delicious, melt-in-your-mouth cake that makes such a beautiful presentation. 

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake: (Brown Eyed Baker)

Makes one 9-inch cake

-7 slices canned unsweetened pineapple, (20-ounce can)

-3 tablespoons unsalted butter

-3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

-19 maraschino cherries

-2 large eggs

-2 tablespoons buttermilk

-1/2 teaspoon vanilla

-1 cup all-purpose flour

-3/4 cup granulated sugar

-3/4 teaspoon baking powder

-1/4 teaspoon baking soda

-1/4 teaspoon salt

-6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, softened

-6 tablespoons buttermilk

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Have ready a 9x2-inch round cake pan. Drain pineapple and place in one layer on paper towels to absorb excess juice.

2. Place the 3 tablespoons unsalted butter in the cake pan. Place the pan in the oven until the butter is melted. Tilt to coat all sides with butter. The extra butter will settle in the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle the brown sugar evenly over the bottom of the pan.

3. Place one pineapple ring in the center of the pan and arrange six more around it. Pace the cherries in the center of each ring and in the spaces between them.

4. In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, 2 tablespoons of buttermilk and vanilla with a fork.

5. In a mixer bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the 6 tablespoons of unsalted butter and 6 tablespoons of buttermilk. Beat on low speed just until the flour is moistened, then increase the speed to medium, or high if using a handheld mixer, and beat for exactly 1 1/2 minutes. The batter will be stiff. Add on-third of the egg mixture at a time, beating for exactly 20 seconds and scraping the bowl after each addition. Scrape the batter over the fruit in the pan and spread evenly.

6. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean, 35-40 minutes. Remove the cake from oven and tilt the pan in all directions to detach it from the sides of the pan. Let cool for 2 to 3 minutes before unmolding.

7. Invert a serving platter on top of the pan. Cover your hands with oven mitts and turn the cake onto the platter. Lift off the pan. If any pineapple or cherry pieces askew, use a fork to push them back into place. If any brown sugar is left in the pan, scrape it up and spoon it over the cake. Serve warm or cool.

Chocolate Candy Bar Overload Cake

I wanted to use up some leftover halloween candy and I was also having a craving for a moist and delicious chocolate cake, so, this is what I came up with! A Chocolate Candy bar Overload Cake. Of course, I used my favorite chocolate cake recipe from HERSHEY'S, which turns out perfectly everytime, no joke! It is the best, and then I frosted it with HERSHEY'S "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Frosting recipe slightly modified. I used half regular cocoa and half dark cocoa and I really, really loved the flavor combo of the two. Then, I just sprinkled some chopped candy bars in between the 2 cake layers and then decorated the top with some more candy bars!  This sure hit the spot and satisfied my chocolate cake craving and my whole family couldn't rave about it more! My sister said it was the best chocolate cake she has ever had.

HERSHEY'S "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake:

For the Cake:

-2 cups sugar

-1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

-3/4 cup HERSHEY'S cocoa

-1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

-1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

-1 teaspoon salt

-2 eggs

-1 cup milk

-1/2 cup vegetable oil

-2 teaspoons vanilla extract

-1 cup boiling water

-"Perfectly Chocoloate" Chocolate Frosting (recipe below)

-2 mini candy bars, coarsely chopped, and about 6 cut into bigger chunks (any kind will do!)

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans.

2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in water. (Batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.

3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely.

4. Prepare frosting; spread between layers and sprinkle with about 2 of the coarsely chopped candy bars. Spread the rest of the frosting over the top and side of the cake. Decorate the top of the cake with the bigger chunks of the candy bars as desired.

"Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Frosting: (slightly adapted by me)

-1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

-2/3 cup HERSHEY'S cocoa, (I used 1/3 cup of regular cocoa and 1/3 cup of dark cocoa and I really loved the flavor of the combination of the 2, so I highly reccomend doing that : )!)

-4 cups powdered sugar

-1/2 cup-2/3 cup milk

-1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency, (I beat it for a few minutes on medium-high speed, which gave it a great texture and made it light and fluffy).

2. Stir in vanilla.

Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake

This pumpkin gooey butter cake recipe from Paula Deen is perfect for an autumn dessert, it tastes like a mix between pumpkin pie and pumpkin cheesecake. The pumpkin filling is creamy and light and slightly gooey and it gets flavored with two of my favorite fall spices, cinnaomon and nutmeg. The crust is a yellow cake mix that gets mixed with melted butter and an egg and it is very soft, sweet and buttery. So, if you want something a little different from your average pumpkin pie, give this a try! Paula Deen also has so many other variations of gooey butter cakes, if you like this pumkin gooey butter cake, you may also like this Double Chocolate Gooey Butter Cake.

Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake: (Paula Deen)

Cake:

-1 (18 1/4-ounce) pacakge yellow cake mix

-1 egg

-8 tablespoons butter, melted

Filling:

-1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened

-1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin

-3 eggs

-1 teaspoon vanilla

-8 tablespoons butter, melted

-1 (16-ounce) box powdered sugar

-1 teaspoon cinnamon

-1 teaspoon nutmeg

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine the cake mix, egg, and butter and mix well with an electric mixer. Pat the mixture into the bottom of a lightly greased 13x9-inch baking pan.

To make the filling: In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and pumpkin until smooth. Add the eggs, vanilla, and butter, and beat together. Next, add the powdered sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and mix well. Spread pumpkin mixture over cake batter and bake for 40-50 minutes. Make sure not to overbake as the center should be a little gooey.

Giant Chocolate Chip M&M Cookie Cake

My boyfriend's nephew loves chocolate chip cookies, so, for his birthday I decided to make him this giant cookie cake and it turned out to be a hit, he stuck his fingers in the frosting to taste it as soon as I showed it to him! I do have to say though, that once he opened up his presents, those were much more important then the cookie cake! : )

All you need to do is make a batch of your favorite chocolate chip cookie dough; here is the recipe that I used, Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies.

     Then, line 2 9-inch round cake pans with parchment paper, spray with non-stick cooking spray and dust evenly with flour to lightly coat the pans. Divide the cookie dough in half and place into the pans.

     Spread the dough evenly into the pans and bake in a preheated 325 degree oven for about 25-30 minutes.

                                                                    Cool completely.

                                                  Frost as desired with your favorite frosting.

                                                                                 Enjoy!

Chocolate Cherry-Coca-Cola Cake

I just purchased Paula Deen's Special Collector's Holiday Baking Magazine and there are so many great Fall and Winter recipes that I am dying to try. After Summer, Fall is my next favorite season. I love going to our local cider mill called Uncle John's Cider Mill and eating warm doughnuts and drinking cider....mmmm the thought of it is making me so very happy! I love the leaves changing colors and the crisp smell of the cool air and carving pumpkins and eating caramel apples and I love all the fabulous fall and halloween treats that I will be making and eating! I can't wait! What is your favorite season?

But, back to this Cherry-Coca-Cola Cake, this recipe was in her magazine and I have been wanting to make a Texas Sheet Cake for a while and I hadn't gotten around to it. This recipe caught my eye because it seemed to closely resemble a Texas Sheet Cake, only it was a little bit different because of the added Coke in it. So, I decided to give this recipe a try and instead of using regular Coca-Cola I used a Cherry flavored Coca-Cola. The cake turned out to be really tasty and it basically tasted just like a Texas Sheet Cake, the Cherry Coke flavor did not stand out in the cake or the frosting, but thats okay because it was still delicious. The cake was very moist and tender and it melted in your mouth. It had a very mild chocolate flavor and the cake itself was not overly sweet. The frosting is my favorite part, it is very sweet which complements the cake very well and it is almost produces a  fudge-like texture since the warm frosting gets poured all over the hot cake. Some of the frosting soaks into the cake a bit which gives you the very moist cake. This cake almost produces three layers; the fudge-like frosting, then a layer of a very moist and gooey-er second layer, and then the bottom cake layer. I even think this cake even tasted better on the second day! Give it a try and I guaruntee you won't be disappointed!

Chocolate Cherry-Coca-Cola Cake: (Paula Deen, adapted by me)

-2 cups all-purpose flour

-2 cups sugar

-1 teaspoon baking soda

-1/4 teaspoon salt

-1 cup butter

-1 cup Cherry Coca Cola

-1/2 cup buttermilk

-1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

-2 large eggs

-1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cherry-Coca-Cola Frosting (recipe follows)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 13x9-inch baking pan with nonstick baking spray and dust with flour.

2. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt.

3. In a medium bowl saucepan, combine butter, Coca-Cola, buttermilk, and cocoa. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, whisking constantly. Remove from heat, and add to flour mixture, whisking until smooth. Add eggs and vanilla, whisking until smooth. Spoon batter into prepared pan; bake 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Pour Cherry-Coca-Cola Frosting over hot cake. Let cool at least 30 minutes before serving.

Cherry-Coca-Cola Frosting:

-1/2 cup butter

-1/2 cup Cherry-Coca-Cola

-1/4 cup unsweetened coca powder

-4 cups confectioner's sugar

1. In a medium saucepan, bring butter, Cola, and cocoa to a boil over medium heat, whisking constantly. Remove from heat, and gradually add confectioner's sugar, whisking until smooth.