Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

I made these for the first time for Valentine's day 2 years ago. They are amazing! It's a delicious red velvet cake recipe and the frosting is amazing! This is a Paula Deen recipe, and it is always my go to recipe for red velvet cake. I hope you like it as much as I did!


Ingredients:

For the Cake:
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
1 1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon cocoa powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teapsoon baking soda
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoon red food coloring
1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Frosting: 
1 pound cream cheese, softened
2 sticks butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
chopped pecans for garnish



Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 (12 cup) muffin pans with cupcake liners. In a medium mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder. 

2. In a large mixing bowl, gently beat together the oil, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, vinegar and vanilla with a handheld electric mixer. Slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix until thoroughly combined.

3. Divided the batter evenly among the cupcake liners, filling them about 2/3 of the way full. Bake the cupcakes for 20-22 minutes, making sure to turn the pans once, halfway through. Test the cupcakes with a toothpick to make sure they are done, and let them cool completely before frosting.

For the Frosting:
1. In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla together until smooth. Add the powdered sugar in on low speed, until thoroughly mixed. Beat the frosting on high until the cream cheese frosting is light and fluffy.




Enjoy!






Source:  pauladeen.com

Pound Cake with Raspberry Sauce

So I made this cake for a Valentine’s Day surprise for my boyfriend. He had mentioned to me that he loves pound cake. So, I searched the internet for a great recipe. I decided to make a raspberry sauce to go with it to give it some color and a fresh taste! Of course I topped it with a homemade whip cream! The pound cake is a Paula Deen recipe, and it is yummy! I cut the recipe in half and used a bread loaf pan, since it was just for us two! I hope your sweetie enjoys this cake, I know mine did!

Ingredients:

For the Pound Cake:

1 sticks of butter, plus more for greasing

¼ cup of vegetable shortening

1 ½ cups of sugar

3 eggs

1 ½ cups of all-purpose flour, plus more for greasing

¼ tsp of fine salt

¼ tsp of baking powder

½ cup of milk

½ tsp of vanilla

For the Raspberry Sauce:

12 oz package of frozen raspberries

3 tbsp of sugar

For the Whip Cream:

2 tbsp of sugar

1 cup of heavy whipping cream

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Cream the butter and shortening together in a bowl, with a mixer.

3. Add the sugar, ½ cup at a time and beating in between.

4. Add each egg one at a time and beating in between.

5. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, salt and baking powder together.

6. Add the flour mixture and milk into the butter and egg mixture, by alternating flour and milk and mixing in between.

7. Blend in the vanilla.

8. Use butter and flour to grease your pan.

9. Bake for 30 mins-55 mins, or until a knife in the middle comes out clean.

For the Raspberry Sauce:

Divided the bag of raspberries in half and blend half of them in a blender. In a bowl, stir in the liquid raspberries, whole raspberries and sugar.

For the Whipping Cream:

Place a metal mixing bowl and metal whisk attachment in the frezzer for 15 minutes before using, Place the sugar in the bowl first and then the cream, then whisk with a mixer until soft peaks form.

I cut the pieces of pound cake out with a heart cookie cutter to make it more festive for Valentine’s Day!

Enjoy and have a Happy Valentine’s Day!

Photo: saraleedesserts.com

Strawberry Cake with Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting

Strawberry Cake with Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting

I made these cupcakes and a smash cake for my daughters 1st birthday. The cake recipe is the Paula Deen's, but I used a different frosting to make it lighter for her birthday. The frosting ended up melting, but I still think they look good! 

Ingredients:

For Strawberry Cake:

18.25 oz box of white cake mix

• 3 oz box of strawberry flavored instant gelatin
• 15 oz package frozen strawberries in syrup, thawed and pureed
• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup water

For Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting:

16 oz cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup heavy cream, cold

Drops of pink food coloring

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Grease cake pans, or line with cupcake liners for cupcakes

3. In a large bowl, combine cake mix and gelatin. 

4. Add pureed strawberries, eggs, oil, and water; beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. 

5. Pour into prepared pans, and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean.

6. Let cool completely before frosting.

For Frosting: 

1. Place the mixing bowl, and mixer attachments ( to use for the cold cream) in the freezer for 30 mins before making this. 

2. Beat the cheese, sugar and vanilla until smooth and fluffy. 

3. In the bowl from the freezer, beat the heavy cream to nearly stiff peaks.

4. Add the whipped cream into the cheese mixture and quickly and briefly beat to combine. Do not over beat.

5. I added drops of pink food coloring in to make it match the party theme, this is optional. If you do use food coloring, lightly fold the frosting with a ribber spatula. 

Frost and Enjoy :)

Chocolate Chip Gooey Butter Cookies

I made these for my little girls 1st birthday party, and they were a huge hit! I was eating them the night before! They are soft, gooey, buttery, and taste like cake batter! :) It's a new take on the original chocolate chip cookies. I made these for a birthday party, so had the sprinkles in to make it look more festive, but you can definitely leave them out.  

Ingredients:

1 box of Butter Cake Mix

8 ox of Cream Cheese, softened

1/2 cup of Butter, Softened

1 egg

1 tsp of Vanilla Extract

1 cup of Milk Chocolate Chips

1/2 of Sprinkles (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Beat the cream cheese and butter together until they are well combined

3. Beat in the egg and the vanilla

4. Add the cake mix and beat until well combined

5. Stir in the chocolate chips and the sprinkles

6. Roll 1 tbsp of dough into balls and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper

7. Bake for 10-12 minutes (The top will be set, but the center will still be gooey, but they are done! Check the bottoms to make sure they are done, the bottom should be golden brown, but be careful.. they burn easy!)

8. Let cool before eating

Enjoy :)

Source: bunsinmyoven.com