I wanted to make something festival for Christmas Eve dinner but wasn’t sure what. I decided I would make eggnog cake, even though I don’t like eggnog it was a favorite of many of the guests.

Everyone loved this cake, including myself. The frosting needed some work, it was too running for my liking and grainy because of the sugar. I think I would use powdered sugar next time and see if that thickened it too.

Eggnog Cake (From: The Taste of Home Baking Book)

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 1/4 cup sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon rum extract
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup eggnog

Frosting

• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups eggnog
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add extracts; mix well. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with eggnog. Pour into two 9-in baking bakes coated with nonstick cooking spray.

Bake at 350 for 30 to 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.

For frosting, combine flour and salt in a saucepan. Gradually stir in eggnog until smooth. Bring to a nboil over medium heat’ cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Remove from the heat; cool to room temperature.

In a large mixing bowl, cmrea butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggnog mixture and vanilla; beat on high until fluffy. Spread frosting between layers and over top and sides of cake.

Store in refrigerator.

While standing at the checkout line of a store a few weeks ago, I saw a Family Circle magazine, I loved the pumpkin looking thing on the front cover. I pulled out the magazine to see what it was… to my surprise it was a cake. I had to buy the magazine because I had to make the cake. Although we are spending Halloween with my dad and there will only be the three of us I knew I had to make this cake.

A little secret from my kitchen, I ALWAYS use salted butter in my recipes, and always omit the salt. The only time I add salt to a recipe is if it has no butter in it.

Because I woke up at 4am thanks to pregnancy induced insomnia and decided to make this cake, I read it as 1 cup of pumpkin instead of one can. This still tasted good, but I bet it would be a little more moist with the full amount of pumpkin. But how can you beat the cuteness?

M&M’s Pumpkin Cake (From: Family Circle Nov, 2009)

• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 can (15 oz) pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 5eggs
• 1 can vanilla frosting
• Orange gel food coloring
• 2 cups orange M&M’s
• 34 yellow or brown M&M’s
• 1 chocolate-covered candy bar

Heat oven to 350. Coat two 1.5 liter Pyrex bowls with nonstick cooking spray; set aside.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and soda, cinnamon and salt. Mix the pumpkin, milk and vanilla in a small bowl to blend.

Beat the butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. Gradually add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the flour mixture, alternating with the pumpkin mixture, ending with the flour mixture. Beat just until smooth.

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared bowls. Bake at 350 in the center of the oven for 55 to 65 minutes or until and a toothpick inserted in center of cakes comes out clean. Transfer bowls to wire rack and cool 15 minutes. Invert cakes onto racks and remove bowls; cool completely.

Trim the top of the cakes with a serrated knife to make level. Tint the frosting orange with the food coloring. Place One cake later cut side up on the serving platter. Spread the cure side with 1/2 cup of frosting. Place the other cake layer on top, cut-side down. Trim any excess to make round.

Spread a thin layer of frosting on  the cake, put brown or yellow M&M’ for the face, and then cover the rest of the pumpkin with orange M&M’s.

Cut the candy bar in half crosswise on the diagonal to fashion a stem. Make a small hole in the top of the cake and press the candy bar half, cut-side down, into the top of the cake for the stem. Refrigerate to firm frosting.

My mother-in-laws favorite cake of all time is German Chocolate. Two years ago I made my first from scratch one, although everyone else raved about it I was less then impressed with it. Elly posted this on her blog a while back and I starred it in my google reader knowing I HAD to make it for my Mother-in-law.

The batter for this cake was AMAZING! It was so light and airy and I think I might of had more batter then I did cereal when I was making it that morning. This cake was just as amazing, it was the perfect perfect cake. It was amazing in every way, from the cake to the frosting to the coconut frosting it was amazing! My mother-in-law LOVED her birthday cake this year

German Chocolate Cake (From: David Lebovitz)

For the cake:

• 2 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate chopped
• 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
• 6 tablespoons water
• 8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 ¼ cup + ¼ cup sugar
• 4 large eggs, separated
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the filling:

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 large egg yolks
• 3 ounces butter, cut into small pieces
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup pecans, toasted and finely chopped
• 1 1/3 cups unsweetened coconut, toasted

For the syrup:

• 1 cup water
• ¾ cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons dark rum

For the chocolate icing:

• 8 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
• 1 ½ ounces unsalted butter
• 1 cup heavy cream

Butter two 9-inch cake pans, then line the bottoms with rounds of parchment or wax paper. Preheat the oven to 350°.

Melt both chocolates together with the 6 tablespoons of water. Use either a double-boiler or a microwave. Stir until smooth, then set aside until room temperature.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, or by hand, beat the butter and 1 ¼ cup of the sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Beat in the melted chocolate, then the egg yolks, one at a time.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Mix in half of the dry ingredients into the creamed butter mixture, then the buttermilk and the vanilla extract, then the rest of the dry ingredients.

In a separate metal or glass bowl, beat the egg whites until they hold soft, droopy peaks. Beat in the ¼ cup of sugar until stiff.

Fold about one-third of the egg whites into the cake batter to lighten it, then fold in the remaining egg whites just until there’s no trace of egg white visible.

Divide the batter into the 2 prepared cake pans, smooth the tops, and bake for about 45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Cool cake layers completely.

While the cakes are baking and cooling, make the filling, syrup, and icing.

To make the filling:

Mix the cream, sugar, and egg yolks in a medium saucepan. Put the 3 ounces butter, salt, toasted coconut, and pecan pieces in a large bowl.

Heat the cream mixture and cook, stirring constantly (scraping the bottom as you stir) until the mixture begins to thicken and coats the spoon (an instant-read thermometer will read 170°.)

Pour the hot custard immediately into the pecan-coconut mixture and stir until the butter is melted. Cool completely to room temperature. (It will thicken.)

To make the syrup:

In a small saucepan, heat the sugar and water until the sugar has melted. Remove from heat and stir in the dark rum.

To make the icing:

Place the 8 ounces of chopped chocolate in a bowl with the corn syrup and 1 ½ ounces of butter.

Heat the cream until it just begins to boil. Remove from heat and pour over the chocolate. Let stand one minute, then stir until smooth. Let sit until room temperature.

To assemble the cake:

Remove the cake layers from the pans and cut both cake layers in half horizontally, using a serrated bread knife.
Set the first cake layer on a cake plate. Brush well with syrup. Spread ¾ cup of the coconut filling over the cake layer, making sure to reach to the edges. Set another cake layer on top.

Repeat, using the syrup to brush each cake layer, then spreading ¾ cup of the coconut filling over each layer, including the top.

Ice the sides with the chocolate icing, then pipe a decorative border of chocolate icing around the top, encircling the coconut topping.

My favorite dessert of all time is cheesecake, if I could only have one dessert for the rest of my life it would be cheesecake. I use to be nervous about making homemade cheesecake, but then I went for it and I will never go back. It’s rather simple and always produces a yummy treat.

We hosted a Labor Day BBQ at our house and I wanted to make dessert, I decided to go with cheesecake, because well I love it, and I love trying new recipes. Cream Cheese is also the Whats Cooking Ingredient Challenge this week so I killed two birds with one stone.

These cheesecake is very different from most cheesecakes, it’s very creamy, not as dense as normal cheesecake, it was awesome, just different from what everyone was expecting, but awesome none the less. **I put my crust too high on the pan so my outside crust looked funny.**

Ultimate Cheesecake (From: Tyler Florence)

• 2 cups finely ground graham crackers (about 30 squares)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 stick unsalted butter, melted
• 1 pound cream cheese, 2 (8-ounce) blocks, softened
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 pint sour cream
• 1 dash vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

In a mixing bowl, combine the graham cracker, cinnamon, and butter with a fork until evenly moistened. Lightly coat the bottom and sides of an 8-inch springform pan with non-stick cooking spray.

Pour the crumbs into the pan and, using the bottom of a measuring cup or the smooth bottom of a glass, press the crumbs down into the base and 1-inch up the sides. Refrigerate for 5 minutes.

For the Filling:

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese on low speed for 1 minute until smooth and free of any lumps. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, and continue to beat slowly until combined. Gradually add sugar and beat until creamy, for 1 to 2 minutes.

Add sour cream, and vanilla. Periodically scrape down the sides of the bowl and the beaters. The batter should be well-mixed but not overbeaten. Pour the filling into the crust-lined pan and smooth the top with a spatula.

Set the cheesecake pan on a large piece of aluminum foil and fold up the sides around it. Place the cake pan in a large roasting pan. Pour boiling water into the roasting pan until the water is about halfway up the sides of the cheesecake pan; the foil will keep the water from seeping into the cheesecake. Bake for 45 minutes. The cheesecake should still jiggle (it will firm up after chilling), so be careful not to overcook. Let cool in pan for 30 minutes. Chill in the refrigerator, loosely covered, for at least 4 hours. Loosen the cheesecake from the sides of the pan by running a thin metal spatula around the inside rim. Unmold and transfer to a cake plate.

Slice the cheesecake with a thin, non-serrated knife that has been dipped in hot water. Wipe dry after each cut.

I was in charge of bring dessert for a family get together that we were having at my moms house. I had been craving cheesecake so that was one thing but then I wanted to make my mom something that would be diabetic friendly. She sent me this recipe and it looked delicious.

The flavor of the cake was great, but the frosting was not so good. Next time I would not do the cream cheese frosting. Otherwise this was excellent.

Double Orange Bundt Cake (From: Diana’s Desserts)

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 7 1/4 teaspoons Equal
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup cold water
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 4 egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon orange extract
• 2 teaspoons grated orange zest
• 8 egg whites
• 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
• Orange Cream Cheese Glaze (recipe follows)

Combine flour, 7 1/4 teaspoons Equal® Measure, baking powder, and salt in large bowl, beat in water, oil, egg yolks, vanilla, orange extract and orange zest.

Beat egg whites in large bowl until foamy, add cream of tartar and beat to stiff peaks. Stir in about 1/3 of the egg whites into flour mixture; fold flour mixture into remaining egg whites. Pour batter into ungreased 12-cup bundt cake pan.

Bake cake in preheated 325-degree F oven until top springs back when touched, 60 to 70 minutes. Cool cake in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes, invert cake onto wire rack and cool.
Place cake on serving plate, spoon Orange Cream Cheese Glaze over cake. Sprinkle fruit with Equal® Measure to taste, serve over cake slices.

Serving size: One slice, Yield: 16, Exchanges: 1 Bread, 1 Fat, Nutrition: 127 Calories, 4g Protein, 14g Carbohydrates, 6g Fat

Orange Cream Cheese Glaze
1/2 package (8 ounce-size) reduced-fat cream cheese, softened
1/2 to 1 teaspoon orange extract
1 teaspoon Equal® Measure or 3 packets Equal®
Skim milk
Directions
Mix cream cheese, extract, Equal® Measure, and enough milk to make medium glaze consistency. Spoon glaze over cake.
Nutritional Information: Serving size: 1 1/2 teaspoons, Yield: 1/2 cup, Exchanges: Free Food, Calories: 18, 1g Protein, 1g Carbohydrates, 1g Fat.