German Chocolate Cheesecake

My how time flies. My husband Jeremy celebrated another birthday at the end of March. It occurred to me (and him, although he tried to be a trooper about it) that in all the hoopla of going out to birthday dinners and such that he never actually got a birthday cake this year. His favorite cake is German Chocolate and he usually gets one every year as his birthday cake. As a belated surprise I decided to make this recipe from Kraft - a combo of German Chocolate and cheesecake, two of his favorite things. :)

I've never had much luck with cheesecakes before - they always seem to crack or the texture is a bit off. This time I did some research and asked around to get some tips. I made sure not to overbeat the batter and I used a water bath (place a rectangular baking dish on the bottom rack of the oven and fill it with boiling water). After baking for 50 minutes I turned off the oven, cracked the oven door open a little and let the cheesecake cool in the oven for an hour before refrigerating. This time the cheesecake came out perfectly, not a crack in sight! :) The flavor and texture were great - very smooth and a nice chocolate and cream cheese flavor. Now that I think I have the technique down I can't wait to try other cheesecake flavors!

GERMAN CHOCOLATE CHEESECAKE

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup chocolate graham crackers, finely crushed
1 cup sugar, divided
3 tbls butter, melted
3 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, room temp
1/4 cup flour
1 (4 oz) package Baker's German sweet chocolate, melted
2 1/2 tsp vanilla, divided
4 eggs, divided
1/3 cup canned evaporated milk
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut
1/2 cup chopped pecans

DIRECTIONS:

1. PREHEAT oven to 350°F if using a silver 9-inch springform pan (or to 325°F if using a dark nonstick 9-inch springform pan). Mix chocolate wafer crumbs, 2 Tbsp. of the sugar and 3 Tbsp. butter; press firmly onto bottom of pan. Bake 10 min.

2. BEAT cream cheese, 1/2 cup of the sugar and the flour in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add chocolate and 2 tsp. of the vanilla; mix well. Add 3 of the eggs, 1 at a time, mixing on low speed after each addition just until blended. Pour over crust.
BAKE 45 to 50 min. or until center is almost set. Run knife or metal spatula around rim of pan to loosen cake; cool before removing rim of pan. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.

3. PLACE evaporated milk, remaining sugar, the 1/4 cup butter, remaining egg and remaining 1/2 tsp. vanilla in small saucepan; cook on medium-low heat until thickened, stirring constantly. Stir in coconut and pecans. Cool. Spread over cheesecake just before serving. Store leftover cheesecake in refrigerator.

Cinnamon Swirl Coffee Cake

This is an easy coffee cake made with a standard vanilla cake mix, dressed up with a swirl of cinnamon, brown sugar and walnuts in the middle. The addition of instant pudding mix makes it super moist.

CINNAMON SWIRL COFFEE CAKE

INGREDIENTS:
1 (18.25 oz) box Golden Vanilla cake mix
1 (3.5 oz) box instant vanilla pudding mix
4 eggs
1 cup applesauce
1 cup light sour cream
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped walnuts


DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Generously spray a 10-cup bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray.

2. In a large mixing bowl combine cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, applesauce and sour cream. Using a handheld mixer, beat until well combined.

3. In a small mixing bowl combine brown sugar, cinnamon and walnuts.

4. Spoon half of cake mix mixture into bundt pan, spreading evenly. Sprinkle brown sugar mixture over cake layer, and top evenly with remaining cake mix. Bake for 50 minutes until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Allow to cool in pan for 15 minutes, then invert onto serving platter. Garnish with powdered sugar glaze and chopped walnuts if desired.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Swirl Cake

Boy, I've been on a roll with all the pumpkin recipes lately! This is a pumpkin version of a chocolate cheesecake swirl cake I made earlier. I gotta say this turned out pretty amazing. It's super moist - it tastes like a combo between a pumpkin bread, a pumpkin pie, and a pumpkin cheesecake all in one. :)

PUMPKIN CHEESECAKE SWIRL CAKE

INGREDIENTS:

1 (18.25 oz) package Spice cake mix

1 (15 oz) can pumpkin

1/2 cup applesauce

1/4 cup water

1/2 cup granulated sugar

4 eggs
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x13 baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.

2. In a large bowl combine cake mix, pumpkin, applesauce, water, 1/2 cup granulated sugar and eggs. Blend with a handheld mixer until combined. Spoon into prepared baking pan.

3. In a medium bowl combine softened cream cheese, 1/4 cup sugar and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract. Stir until smooth and well combined. Drop by heaping tablespoons across top of cake batter. Use a knife to swirl cream cheese mixture into cake batter. Bake cake for 40-45 minutes until set and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Chocolate Cheesecake Swirl Cake

aI've been experimenting a lot with cake mixes in an effort to satisfy my hubby's sweet tooth but not ruin our efforts to eat a little healthier. It's interesting finding out that you don't have to have oil and eggs in a cake in order to come up with something yummy. This is a chocolate cake made with skim milk and applesauce (you won't taste the apple, I promise!), with swirls of a light cheesecake batter on top. It turned out great! I would definitely undercook the cake so it's just slightly gooey inside for maximum decadence. :)

CHOCOLATE CHEESECAKE SWIRL CAKE

INGREDIENTS:
1 (18.25 oz) package chocolate cake mix
2/3 cup skim milk
3/4 cup applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 (8 oz) light cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup Splenda
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract


DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x13 baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.

2. In a large bowl combine cake mix, milk, applesauce and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. Stir until just combined. Spoon into prepared baking pan.

3. In a medium bowl combine softened cream cheese, Splenda and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract. Stir until well combined. Drop by heaping tablespoons evenly across top of cake batter. Use a butter knife to swirl cream cheese mixture into cake batter. Bake cake for 25 minutes until just set - cake is best if slightly underbaked.

Chocolate Banana Cake

Jeremy and I recently returned from a cruise to Alaska - it was beautiful and we had a fabulous time! One of the things they had during the cruise was a midnight chocolate buffet - omg, so many chocolate desserts, it was ridiculous. Funny enough one of my favorite things at the buffet was very simple: chocolate dipped bananas. This is a cake version of that. Since we're on a "post-cruise" diet, I tried to lighten it up by using applesauce and egg whites. I didn't add the optional chocolate chips but I thought the finished cake could benefit with an extra punch of chocolate, so if you're able to indulge, definitely add the chocolate chips! :)

CHOCOLATE BANANA CAKE

INGREDIENTS:
1 (18.25 oz) box chocolate cake mix
1 1/3 cups water
1/2 cup applesauce
2 egg whites
1 cup banana, mashed
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (optional)


DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 10 cup bundt cake pan with nonstick spray.

2. In a large mixing bowl combine all ingredients and beat until combined. Pour into bundt cake pan, spreading evenly. Bake for 40-45 minutes until a wooden skewer comes out clean. Allow to cook for 10 minutes before inverting onto serving dish. Garnish with whipped cream if desired.

Blueberry Almond Cake

What?! A blueberry recipe, on my blog?? Gasp! What can I say - I love my husband, he loves blueberries, hence I bake with a lot of blueberries. Plus it's a great time of year for them - they're fresh and inexpensive! This is a dense poundcake type of blueberry cake with a little crunch from sliced almonds, frosted with whipped cream cheese frosting.

BLUEBERRY ALMOND CAKE

INGREDIENTS:
1 stick butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1 cup blueberries

1 can Duncan Hines whipped cream cheese frosting



DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 8x8 baking pan.

2. In a large bowl combine melted butter and granulated sugar, beat until smooth. Beat in egg, sour cream, vanilla extract and lemon juice. Add flour, baking powder and salt and mix until combined. Fold in almonds and blueberries then pour into baking pan - spread evenly.

3. Bake for 30-35 minutes until toothpick inserted in middle of cake comes out clean. Allow to cool before frosting with cream cheese frosting and cutting into squares.

Hunk-a Hunk-a Elvis Cake

I have a cookbook called "Are You Hungry Tonight? Elvis' Favorite Recipes". I love the fact that such a thing even exists. It's full of good ol' Southern comfort food, with an extensive section on exactly how Elvis liked his bacon cooked (well done, please). Of course there's a recipe for the infamous peanut butter banana sandwich he so dearly loved. It got me thinking that those flavors might make for a tastey cake. This one's for you, King...

HUNK-A HUNK-A ELVIS CAKE

INGREDIENTS:

For Peanut Butter Fluff frosting:
1 (1.5oz) package Jello sugar free/fat free instant Vanilla pudding mix
1/2 cup skim milk
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 (12oz) container Cool Whip Light

For cake:
1 (18.25oz) box Golden Vanilla flavor cake mix
1 1/3 cups bananas, mashed
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup peanut butter chips

For garnish:
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup unsalted dry roasted peanuts


DIRECTIONS:

1. To prepare frosting - in a medium bowl using a handheld mixer gradually blend instant pudding mix and skim milk until well incorporated. Add peanut butter and mix until well combined. Add Cool Whip light and mix thoroughly. Cover and refrigerate.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray.

3. In a large mixing bowl combine cake mix, bananas, 1/3 cup peanut butter, eggs and vanilla extract. Stir until well combined. Fold in peanut butter chips. Spoon into bundt pan, spreading evenly.

4. Bake in preheated oven for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean. Set aside to cool.

5. Invert cooled cake onto serving dish and frost top with Peanut Butter Fluff frosting. For garnish, warm peanut butter in microwave for 15 seconds - stir and drizzle in zigzag pattern across cake. Sprinkle with peanuts.

White Chocolate Banana Cake

This was something I whipped up during a "oh crap I have a bunch of bananas that are about to go bad" moment - you all know what I'm talking about. I have an ever growing appreciation for white chocolate and thought it would be an interesting combo with bananas. It turned out pretty yummy!

WHITE CHOCOLATE BANANA CAKE

INGREDIENTS:

1 (18.25oz) box white cake mix
1 cup bananas, mashed
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3/4 cup white chocolate chips

For glaze:
1/2 cup powdered sugar
Water, as needed

White chocolate chips for garnish

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x13 baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.

2. In a large mixing bowl combine cake mix, bananas, eggs, cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir until well combined. Fold in white chocolate chips. Spoon into prepared baking pan, spreading evenly.


3. Bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean. Set aside to cool.

4. In a small mixing bowl combine powdered sugar and water, a teaspoon at a time, until it creates a smooth glaze with a consistency for drizzling. Top cooled cake with glaze in a zig zag pattern and garnish with white chocolate chips if desired.

Lemon Blueberry Bundt Cake

My father got me a bundt cake pan last Christmas, and I always feel a bit like June Cleaver when I use it. But bundt is back, dang it! This is a lemon blueberry bundt cake, made quick and easy with a boxed lemon cake mix. It's very moist and has a lot of lemon flavor going on, so make sure you like lemon before you proceed! I used applesauce instead of oil to lighten it up a bit so feel free to eat twice as much. ;)

LEMON BLUEBERRY BUNDT CAKE

INGREDIENTS:

Cake:
1 (18.25 oz) package lemon cake mix
1 (3.4 oz) package instant lemon pudding mix
1 cup water
1/2 cup applesauce
4 eggs
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest
2 cups blueberries
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon flour

Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Water, as necessary

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 10 inch Bundt pan.

2. In a large bowl, stir together cake mix and pudding mix. Make a well in the center and pour in water, applesauce, eggs, lemon juice and lemon zest. Beat on low speed until blended. Scrape bowl, and beat 4 minutes on medium speed. In a small bowl combine blueberries, granulated sugar and flour - toss to coat. Fold blueberries into cake batter. Pour batter into prepared pan.

3. Bake in preheated oven for 50 to 55 minutes, or until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow cake to cool completely before inverting onto serving platter.

4. To prepare glaze, combine powdered sugar and lemon juice in a small bowl and whisk until smooth. Add water a teaspoon at a time, mixing thoroughly, until desired consistency. Drizzle over cake.

Chocolate Gooey Butter Cake

Oh, Paula Deen, you buttery vixen! I love watching her show on Foodnetwork (c'mon, the woman says mayo is her favorite condiment and I think she loves cream cheese more than I do!). Here's a slight variation of her infamous gooey butter cake. It tastes like a dense brownie with a layer of fluffy, gooey yumminess on top. :)

CHOCOLATE GOOEY BUTTER CAKE

INGREDIENTS:

2 sticks butter, melted
1 (18.25 ounce) package chocolate cake mix
1 egg, plus 2 eggs
1/4 cup semisweet mini chocolate chips
1 teaspoon all purpose flour
1 (8oz) package cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons semisweet chocolate chips, melted
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chopped walnuts

Powder sugar for dusting

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Lightly grease a 13 by 9-inch baking pan. In a large bowl, combine the cake mix, 1 egg, and 8 tablespoons (1 stick) melted butter, and stir until well blended. In a small bowl combine mini chocolate chips and flour and toss to coat. Stir chocolate chips into cake batter. Pat mixture into prepared baking pan and set aside.

3. In a large bowl beat the cream cheese until smooth using a hand mixer. Add the remaining 2 eggs, and the melted semisweet chocolate and mix thoroughly. Lower the speed of the mixer, and gradually add the powdered sugar. Continue beating until ingredients are well mixed. Slowly add the remaining 8 tablespoons (1 stick) of melted butter and the vanilla extract, continuing to beat the mixture until smooth. Stir in walnuts. Spread filling evenly over cake mixture in pan.

4. Bake in preheated oven for 40 to 50 minutes. Be careful not to overcook the cake; the center should still be a little gooey when finished baking. Let cake partially cool on a wire rack before cutting into pieces. Dust with powdered sugar if desired, or if you're feeling really decadent, serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

German Chocolate Cake

This is the birthday cake I made for my husband this year. I got lots of good feedback on it, and my mother-in-law said she thought I had bought it from a "fancy bakery" and couldn't believe I made it - aww! This is a very dense, rich cake - you could get away with just adding some additional chocolate chips, baking it in a bundt pan, and serving it with just a dusting of powdered sugar if you like. The coconut pecan topping recipe can be found on the German Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies post.

GERMAN CHOCOLATE CAKE

INGREDIENTS:

1 (18.25 ounce) package devil's food cake mix
1 (3.9 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix
2 cups sour cream
1 cup melted butter
5 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup semisweet mini chocolate chips

Chocolate frosting of your choice

Coconut Pecan topping

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour two 9" round cake pans.

2. In a large bowl, stir together cake mix and pudding mix. Make a well in the center and pour in sour cream, melted butter, eggs (you may want to temper the eggs and butter together to prevent scrambling) and vanilla extract. Beat on low speed until blended. Scrape bowl, and beat 4 minutes on medium speed. Blend in chocolate chips. Pour batter into prepared pan.

3. Bake in preheated oven for 30-35 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Let cool, then remove from pans. Frost one layer with a thin layer chocolate frosting and a layer of coconut pecan topping. Stack top cake layer on top and frost entire cake with chocolate frosting and top with remaining coconut pecan topping. Drizzle with melted chocolate if desired.