Mama's Carrot Cake

I made this for the first time ever a couple of weeks ago for Lanie's first birthday. I used a sheet cake pan, and then made a mini stacked cake for Lanie and a large stacked cake for the fam. I remember loving this cake when I was a kid. Oh man, this cake is so delicious! So moist. So flavorful. And hey, it's got carrots in it. That puts it in the vegetable group in the food pyramid, right? :o) And who doesn't feel cool after making a cake from scratch? I think if you added pecans to the actual cake and made the carrot pieces a little chunkier (I was lazy and put them in the food processor), it would be very similar to the amazing Paradise Bakery Carrot Cake. But, you'd have to add raisins for the full effect. They would not be added to mine. I couldn't add all this stuff since it was for a first birthday. No nuts to choke the little chica. Next time though.

Yum. The girls thought it was uber weird (and sorta gross) to put carrots in a cake. They thought it was sure to be disgusting. In the end, they LOVED it. They still talk about it. They licked the attachments clean after we mixed up both the cake AND the frosting.


The cake:

Mix together:
1 1/2 c. oil
{I used 1 c. applesauce and 1/2 c. oil, and it was great!}
2 c. sugar

Add:
4 eggs
3 c. grated carrots

Mix dry ingredients separately, and then dump them in:
2 t. baking soda
2 t. cinnamon
2 t. salt
2 c. flour
{I might throw in some ground clove or a bit of ginger next time.}

Bake at 350 for 40-50 minutes
{less time if baking on a sheet cake pan, watch closely so it doesn't burn}


The love (aka the frosting):
{don't frost the cake until it's completely cooled}
{also, I do not recommend stacking. it's a pain}
{but it looks cute}

Mom's recipe on the cake recipe card at Kat's house:

3 oz cream cheese
1/2 cube softened butter
2 t. vanilla
2 1/2 c. powdered sugar
1 c. nuts

My variation to have enough to stack the cake and a teensy bit leftover for graham crackers:
8 oz cream cheese (I always use neufchatel)
1 cube super soft butter
2 t. vanilla
enough powdered sugar to make it right as you whip it
{I forgot to add nuts this time, and I was slightly traumatized by the omission}

Enjoy. I kept it in the fridge, and it stayed so moist and delicious! It was a perfect little snack for our family after just about every meal for a few days. It was a sad day when it was all eaten. But it lasted quite a long time with just a few of us piecing off of it (some more than others, not gonna lie).

No-bake Cheesecake!

We grew up with this amazing no-bake cheesecake (SO EASY TOO), and here is this year's traditional flag.
Not anatomically correct, I know.

But so yum. :o)

Crust:
Blend up one and a half little packages of graham crackers.
Mix with one cube melted butter.
Press into pan. Refrigerate to set.

Cheesecake topping:
Mix together
one 8 oz package of cream cheese (I use neufchatel),
one 8 oz tub of cool whip (low fat is just fine),
and 2/3 cup powdered sugar.
I mix in my KitchenAid. It gets light and fluffy. Yum.
Spread gently over set graham cracker crust.
Refrigerate to set.

It's best if you let it set for a few hours if you can...
so make it in the morning. :o)

Add fresh fruit or fruit topping and whipped cream.
Yum.
Enjoy.

Sometimes I serve the fruit and whipped cream separately and let people put what toppings they want on it. I had extra strawberries and blueberries to serve on top of the flag pieces, since it was sort of skimpy with the fruit. But it was gorgeous! :o)

Creamy Lemon Supreme

Crust:

• 15 lemon or vanilla creme-filled sandwich cookies, finely chopped
• 3 Tbs butter, melted
• 1 lemon

Filling:

• 2 lemons
• 1 pkg (2.9oz) lemon cook and serve pudding (not instant)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 cups water, divided
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 Tbs butter
  
• 2 pkgs (8oz) cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 (8oz) container of cool whip

1. Lightly spray spring form pan with cooking spray. For crust, finely chop cookies. Combine crumbs with melted butter and press into bottom of pan. Cut 6 thin slices from lemon; cut each slice in half. Place lemon halves against inside collar of pan with cut side touching crust. Refrigerate while preparing filling.
2. For filling, zest lemons to measure 1 1/2 tsp. zest. Juice lemons to measure 1/4 cup juice. Combine pudding mix, sugar, 1/4 cup water and egg yolks in small saucepan; stir until blended. Stir in remaining 1 3/4 cups water. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture comes to a full boil; remove from heat. Set aside 1/2 cup of the pudding; cool slightly. Whisk butter and lemon juice into remaining pudding in saucepan; cool 15 min stirring twice.
3. In bowl, combine cream cheese and powdered sugar; mix well. Whisk in reserved 1/2 cup lemon pudding and 1 tsp lemon zest. Fold in 2 cups cool whip; spread over crust.
   
4. Stir remaining lemon pudding mixture and spoon evenly over cream cheese filling. Spreading gently. Refrigerate at least 6 hours.
   
5. Run knife around sides of dessert; release collar from pan. Garnish with remaining cool whip and lemon zest.

12 servings

Really Yummy White Cake

This is a super simple, really yummy recipe for white cake. I used it to make cupcakes last night and they were so tasty! The only thing I did differently was add about 1/8 cup more milk because that is what some people had said to do on the reviews of the recipe. Oh, another thing someone said in the reviews was to make sure to cream the butter and sugar until it was really light and fluffy. The cupcakes were very moist and delicious! It made 12 cupcakes.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 cup milk (add extra 1/8 cup):

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x9 inch pan or line a muffin pan with paper liners.
2. In a medium bowl, cream together the sugar and butter. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine flour and baking powder, add to the creamed mixture and mix well. Finally stir in the milk until batter is smooth. Pour or spoon batter into the prepared pan.
3. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes in the preheated oven. For cupcakes, bake 20 to 25 minutes. Cake is done when it springs back to the touch.

Refreshing Cake (as named by Kelsey)

• 1 box white cake mix
• 2 (8oz) pkgs. cream cheese
• 2 cups cool Whip
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 2 pkgs Danish Dessert
• 2 lb strawberries

***recipe makes two 9x13 cake pans

Grease and flour two (9x13) pans. Mix white cake mix according to directions on box. Split white cake mix batter evenly into 9x13 pans. Cook for approximately 15 minutes (toothpick will come out clean). Let them cool completely. Cream together cream cheese, Cool Whip, and powdered sugar. Spread over both cakes after they have cooled. Make sure they are well covered to the edge. Slice up strawberrries.

Use the tangy Danish pudding instructions on the back of the Danish dessert box. Cool mostly, then stir in strawberries. Pour evenly over both pans. Chill for 4 hours before serving. Keep cakes refrigerated.