Ferrero Rocher Cake

{please don't droll on your screen...}
I went on this Ferrero Rocher kick, and then it just hit me. I should make it into a cake. I searched and searched for something comparable, just so I could see how other people made this cake. I don't mean to brag, but as far as my search went, I found zero Ferrero Rocher cake... just cupcakes. So... yeah

This cake was super easy, and more importantly, delicious. I only got one piece, and my dear husband got NONE! It went THAT fast! I was really proud of myself after making this cake. I love to see myself succeed, and I feel like I'm really making progress in the whole baking field. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1 recipe for Chocolate Cake (here is a great one I can't wait to try from Our Best Bites)
1/2 small tub of Nutella
About 20 Hazelnuts, chopped

Directions:
Preheat oven to your recipe specifications. Prepare cake batter, as per directions. Pour batter into a sprayed 8 inch round spring form pan, or whatever round pans you may have in the kitchen. Bake as per directions. Let cool.
While you are waiting, go ahead and make your frosting. Here is my absolute favorite chocolate frosting recipe. Mmm, it's so good... but I don't mean to brag.
Once your cake has cooled, cut the cake in half to create two layers, or if you are using two pans, you can just ignore that part. Very carefully spread the Nutella on top of the bottom top half of the cake. Take the top part of the cake and place it on top of the Nutella frosted part of the cake. Frost the cake with your chocolate frosting, make sure you don't use up all the frosting if you are planning on decorating more.
I'm not an expert on cake decorating, but this is the best way I can tell you how to get the nuts on the side of the cake. Take a small handful of nuts, and spread them from you finger tips to the center of your palm. Quickly lay your hand up against the side of the cake, trying to get as much of the nuts to stick as possible. It'll be messy, but it works.

Repeat until you have the desired amount of nuts on your cake. You can take the remaining chocolate frosting and pipe a fun design on the top of the cake. The world is your oyster. Slice it up and eat it all!

Don't forget to leave me a comment! Oh man I'm craving Ferrero Rocher now.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

{love me some pineapple}
You know how sometimes you just have weird cravings? Some things just sound really good. That's what lead me to making this super yummy cake. I was dying for pineapple upside down cake, and I was so happy when it turned out perfectly! I'm constantly cooking and baking things, however not everything makes it on to the blog. Mmm but this cake is truly amazing. I am so proud of myself! And it totally hit the spot!

Ingredients:
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 (8 oz) can pineapple rings, cut into fourths
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
2/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
2/3 cup milk
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla


Directions: Preheat oven to 350F. Place 1/4 cup butter in a 9x1 1/2 inch round cake pan. Place pan in oven until butter melts. Stir in brown sugar. Arrange pineapple in brown sugar. Set aside.
In a medium mixing bowl stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and ginger. Add milk 1/4 cup softened butter, the egg, and vanilla. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed until combined. Beat on medium for 1 minute. Spread batter in prepared pan. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack 5 minutes. Loosen sides of cake, invert onto plate. Cool for 30 minutes, serve warm.

Source: Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book, 15th Edition (Better Homes & Gardens Plaid) 

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

{pumpkin pie has met its match}
I saw these when I was browsing... somewhere out there in cyberspace. And all it took was one look, and I was immediately head over heels and the site was saved in my bookmarks three seconds later. To say that I was excited to try this out, is an understatement. This definitely worked as a great test run for YW's In Excellence in two weeks- I'm in charge of treats, and I've been brainstorming ideas for the evening, and these I think are in my top 5. 

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 tablespoon ginger
1/2 tablespoon ground cloves
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup oil
1 1/2 cups canned pumpkin
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

For the frosting:
1/4 cup butter, at room temperature
1 8oz package cream cheese, at room temperature
3 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325F. Combine flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and spices in a bowl, and whisk together. In another bowl, beat brown sugar and oil until combined, then add the pumpkin, and whisk together. Add vanilla and the egg, and mix again until combined. Fold in dry ingredients until incorporated. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Use a melon baller (or something that measures 2 tablespoons) to scoop the batter on to the cookie sheet- two inches apart. Bake for 9-10 minutes, OR until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cookies sit for 5 minutes before moving to a wire wrack to cool. 
To make the frosting, beat the butter until creamy, about 30 seconds, then add in the cream cheese. Beat on medium for about 1 minute until mixture is creamy and fluffy. Add powdered sugar and vanilla, and beat again until desired consistency. If too thick, add a couple teaspoons of milk and if too runny, add 1/2 cup powdered sugar. 

Once the cookies are cooled, and the frosting is all frosting-y, using a small spoon, scoop up some frosting and dollop it on the flat underside of one cookie, and sandwich it with another cookie, flat sides together. Repeat. If you wanted to get fancy, you could pipe the frosting.

Once they are all assembled, put them in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before serving!

Just a tip: if the tops of your little cookies are a bit rigid from sticking to the utensil you used to scoop them onto the baking sheet- before baking, dip the tips of your fingers in water and smooth out the little peaks. 
Source: Teenie Cakes 

Caribbean Coconut Cake

{coconuty and pineapply}
Two things I love together, coconut and pineapple, I also love them by themselves. Not that any of this matters, point of this paragraph is tell you how yummy this cake is and how much you wish you had some right now!

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 1/4 cup self rising flour (cake and pastry flour worked well for me)
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
2/3 cup dry unsweetened coconut
5 tablespoons coconut cream (ahem, I could not find coconut cream, apparently Canada has something against this item, so I substituted sweetened condensed milk with a few drops of coconut extract, also, milk would have worked well, too.)
Frosting:
2 1/4 cup powdered sugar
5 tablespoons pineapple jelly (also could not find this, so I used a small amount of crushed pineapple)
dry unsweetened coconut, toasted to garnish

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F, grease the bottoms of two 8 inch round cake pans. Place 3/4 cup of the butter in a bowl with the sugar and eggs, and sift in the flour, baking powder, and nutmeg. Beat together until smooth, then stir in the coconut and 2 tablespoons of coconut cream.
Divide the mixture between the cake pans and smooth the tops. Bake for 25 minutes, or until golden and firm to the touch. Let cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire wrack.
Once the cakes are completely cool, sift the powdered sugar into a bowl and add the remaining butter and coconut cream. Beat together until smooth, spread the pineapple jelly on one of the cakes and stop with just under half of the frosting. Place the other cake on top. Spread the remaining frosting on top of the cake ans scatter with toasted coconut. 
*Disclaimer, my cakes sank in the center. I have no idea why, or what I did to make this happen, this is why my cake looks funny. Also, if you use the sweetened condensed milk instead of the coconut cream, take it easy in the frosting- it makes it extremely sweet, unless that's your thing. 

Four Layer Devil's Food Cake

{chocolate; possibly the number one love of my life}
This is my first time making a layer cake. This is also my first time making cake batter (and chocolate frosting) from scratch. Also, my first time using baking cocoa. Seriously, I'd never used it before. I think for my first time, I did pretty dang good! I was amazed at my self! I'll admit that buying a cake mix from a box is a million times easier and faster, but the satisfaction I got from making it from scratch is incomparable.

Ingredients:
5 oz. (140 g) semisweet chocolate
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
2/3 cup butter
2/3 cup brown sugar
3 eggs, separated
4 tablespoons sour cream
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
Frosting:
5 oz. (140 g) semisweet chocolate
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
4 tablespoons sour cream
1 tablespoons corn syrup
3 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons water
1 3/4 cup powdered (icing) sugar

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 325F. Grease two 8 inch round cake pans. Break up the chocolate (I used chocolate chips) and place with the milk and cocoa in a heat proof bowl set over a pot of gently boiling water, stirring until melted and smooth. Remove from the heat. (Check out my little invention for this... haha!)

In a large bowl, beat together the butter and brown sugar until pale and fluffy. Beat in the egg yolks, then the sour cream and melted chocolate mixture. Sift in the flour and baking soda, fold in evenly. In a separate bowl, whip the egg whites until stiff enough to hold firm peaks. Fold into the mixture lightly and evenly.
Divide the mixture between the cake pans, smooth the surface, and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until risen and firm to the touch. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack.

For the frosting, place the chocolate, cocoa, sour cream, corn syrup, butter, and water in pot and heat gently without boiling, until melted. Remove from the heat and add the powdered sugar, stirring until smooth. Cool, stirring occasionally, until the mixture begins to thicken and holds its shape. Split the cakes in  half horizontally with a sharp knife to make four layers. Sandwich the cakes together with about a third of the frosting. Spread the remainder over the top and sides of the cakes, swirling with a metal spatula.

 Original recipe taken from my new cookbook: