Rainbow Cupcakes

1 box white cake mix

4 eggs

1/2 Cup vegetable oil

1/2 Cup water

8 oz sour cream

small box instant vanilla pudding mix (or white chocolate or cheesecake)

Food Coloring Paste: Red, Blue, Yellow, Green and Purple (I used the Wilton brand’s paste)

Vanilla or Cream Cheese Frosting of Choice

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a stand or electric mixer, beat the cake mix, eggs, oil, water, sour cream and pudding on medium until well combined. Batter will be nice and thick. Divide batter evenly between 5 bowls. Drop 5 different colors of food coloring into each cake batter bowl until you reach your desired colors. Stir well. Spoon small amounts of each color into paper lined cupcake tins until all are half filled. Bake for 22-25 minutes or until cooked through. Remove and let cool completely. Frost with frosting of choice.

Makes 22-24 cupcakes

Pineapple Rice Pudding

I love rice puddings, and this is one of my favorites, a nice change from the usual. I found the recipe in my Taste of Home book, but modified it slightly. For best results, you should use a higher fat milk. I usually use a can of evaporated milk and regular milk for the rest.

Ingredients
4 cups milk, divided
3 cups cooked long-grain rice
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 oz cream cheese, softened
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
PINEAPPLE SAUCE:
1 (20 ounce) can pineapple tidbits or chunks
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon butter
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions
In a saucepan, combine 3-1/2 cups milk, rice, sugar and salt; bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook for 15 minutes or until thick and creamy, stirring occasionally. In a mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese. Beat in eggs and remaining milk. Stir into rice mixture. Cook and stir for 2 minutes over medium heat. Stir in vanilla. Spoon into six dessert dishes.
Drain pineapple, reserving the juice; set the pineapple aside. In a saucepan, combine brown sugar, cornstarch, butter, salt and reserved pineapple juice. bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Stir in vanilla and pineapple. Spoon over pudding.

Fresh Peach Dessert

This is one of my all time favorite desserts. We would look forward to this dessert every year when the peaches on our tree were ripe. It's important, though, to use sweet, ripe peaches.Peaches from the grocery store are usually not very good.
Ingredients:
16 whole graham crackers, crushed
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 c butter, melted
8 ounces mini marshmallows
1/4 cup milk
1 pint whipping cream, whipped and sweetened with 1/3 cup of sugar
5 or 6 fresh large peaches, peeled and sliced
Directions:
Put milk and marshmallows in a large microwave safe bowl. Microwave until marshmallows melt, stirring often. Set aside to cool.
Mix together graham cracker crumbs, sugar and butter. Set aside 1/4 cup for topping and press remaining mixture into a 9x13 pan. Refrigerate.
After marshmallows have cooled, fold together with whipped cream. Spread half this mixture on top of the crust. Top with peaches, then the rest of the cream mixture. Sprinkle with reserved crumbs. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Pumpkin Bundt Cake

I drizzled cream cheese frosting over it and sprinkled it with toasted pecans.

INGREDIENTS
1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
1 (3.4 ounce) package instant butterscotch pudding mix
4 eggs
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup canned pumpkin
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
DIRECTIONS
In a large mixing bowl, combine the first seven ingredients. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds; beat on medium for 4 minutes. Pour into a greased and floured 10-in. fluted tube pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 50-55 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 15 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Molten Chocolate Cakes

This cake is so rich, but so good if you love chocolate. I used mini bundt pans and it made 6. You can also use ramekins or muffin tins. Just make sure to spray the pan well and remove them while still warm. Depending on the size of cups you use, you may have to experiment with the cooking time a bit to get it just right. I think these taste best when the batter is made ahead.

1 cup butter

8 ounces semisweet chocolate, cut into bite-size chunks
5 large eggs
1/2 cup sugar
4 teaspoons flour

DIRECTIONS
Place butter and chocolate in a microwave safe bowl and microwave until butter is melted. Stir until chocolate melts completely. Beat eggs, sugar and salt with a hand mixer in a medium bowl until sugar dissolves. Beat egg mixture into chocolate until smooth. Beat in flour until just combined. (Batter can be made a day ahead; return to room temperature an hour or so before baking.)
Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 450 degrees. Spray ramekins or muffin tins with cooking spray. Divide batter among cups.
Bake until batter puffs but center is not set, 12 to 14 minutes. Turn warm cakes onto dessert plates.
Top each with whipped cream or ice cream.

Buttercream Frosting

I prefer cream cheese frosting for eating, but this is a great frosting for cake decorating. This recipe makes A LOT, but is easy to half if you don't need as much.

INGREDIENTS
1 cup butter (no substitutes), softened
1 cup shortening
3 pounds confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup milk or cream
DIRECTIONS
In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and shortening. Beat in sugar, vanilla, salt and enough milk to achieve spreading consistency.

Fruit Pizza

There are 2 different topping that I have used for this dessert. I think they're both delicious. I usually make it according to what I have on hand. Sometimes I make a combination of the two. You can use any type of sugar cookie dough that you prefer. To make this easy, I use the Betty Crocker packaged mix. You could make it even easier by buying the ready made dough.

I made this on a 12 inch pizza stone, but be warned-one package of cookie dough is TOO MUCH for a 12 inch pan. I smoked us all out of the house when it overflowed in the oven. I usually use a bigger pizza pan, but wanted to try my stone. A 14 inch should be safe.

Ingredients:

Sugar cookie dough of your choice

Topping choice #1:

8 oz cream cheese, softened

7 oz marshmallow cream

OR

Topping choice #2:

8 oz Cream cheese, softened

8 oz whipped topping, thawed

Assorted fruit of your choice

Press cookie dough onto a 14 inch cookie sheet and bake at 375 for 10-15 minutes until light golden brown. Cool completely.

Beat cream cheese until fluffy, then fold in the next ingredient (depending on which topping you've chosen to use). Spread over crust and top with assorted fruit.

Note: If you choose to use bananas or something else that will turn dark, put them first in lemon juice or you can make a glaze by melting a light colored fruit preserves, then brush it over the top.

Cake Balls

I've been looking at this recipe on a few different websites for a while now, and decided to make them for Valentines Day. It really wasn't too difficult. We had fun making (and eating) them

I used red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting, but you can use any combination that sounds good. I used Wilton dipping chocolate that I found in the craft section of Wal-mart.

Make sure to cool the cake completely before adding the frosting. Also, you don't need to use the whole container of frosting if you think it's getting too gooey. I used just short of a whole container.

INGREDIENTS

1 (18.25 ounce) package cake mix, flavor of your choice
1 (16 ounce) container prepared chocolate frosting, flavor of your choice
Dipping chocolate, white chocolate, chocolate, or both
DIRECTIONS
1. After cake is cooked and cooled completely, crumble into large bowl.

2. Mix thoroughly with 1 can cream cheese frosting.

3. Roll mixture into quarter size balls and lay on cookie sheet. (Should make 45-50.)

4. Freeze for a few hours.

5. Melt chocolate in microwave per directions on package.

6. Roll balls in chocolate and lay on wax paper until firm. (Use a spoon to dip and roll in chocolate and then tap off extra.)

Coconut Poke Cake

Quick, easy and yummy. You can find cream of coconut in the drink mixer section of your supermarket.
INGREDIENTS
1 (18.25 ounce) package white cake mix
1 (14 ounce) can cream of coconut
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (8 ounce) package frozen whipped topping, thawed or whipped cream
Additional coconut, toasted or plain
DIRECTIONS
Prepare and bake white cake mix according to package directions, using a 9x13 pan. Remove cake from oven. While still hot, using a utility fork, poke holes all over the top of the cake.
Mix cream of coconut and sweetened condensed milk together. Pour over the top of the still hot cake. Let cake cool completely then frost with the whipped topping and top with the flaked coconut. Keep cake refrigerated.

Mandarin Orange Cake

I've made this in a large jelly roll pan, 9x13, or layers. In the picture, I used 3 8 inch rounds. If you're going to make a layer cake, 20 oz of pineapple is too much. If you use about 15oz the topping should be thick enough to frost the sides of the cake. Sometimes I add toasted coconut to the top, as in the picture.

INGREDIENTS
1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
4 eggs
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1 (11 ounce) can mandarin orange segments
1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
1 (20 ounce) can crushed pineapple with juice
1 (3.5 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan.
In a large bowl, combine cake mix, eggs, oil and mandarin oranges with juice. Beat until smooth. Pour batter into prepared pan.
Bake in the preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool.
To make the topping: In a large bowl, beat together whipped topping, pineapple with juice and dry pudding mix until blended. Spread on cake.

Chunky Apple Cake with Butterscotch Sauce

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
6 cups chopped peeled tart apples
BUTTERSCOTCH SAUCE:
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup butter, cubed
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

Directions: In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter, sugar and vanilla. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and baking soda; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well (batter will be stiff). Stir in apples until well combined (it looks like more apples than batter at this point). Spread into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish. Bake at 350° for 45-50 minutes or until top is lightly browned and springs back when lightly touched. Cool for 30 minutes before serving. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, combine brown sugar and butter. Cook over medium heat until butter is melted. Gradually add cream. Bring to a slow boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat. Serve with cake.

White Chocolate Blondie

This is a clone recipe of Applebee's White Chocolate and Walnut Blondie, although I think they may have changed the name. It calls for walnuts, but I prefer pecans. The sauce is amazing! I always double it so that there's plenty to go around.

Ingredients:

CAKE:
4 egg whites
½ cup butter softened
½ cup light brown sugar - (packed)
¼ cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup milk
8 ounces white chocolate cut into chunks
½ cup chopped walnuts or pecans

SAUCE:
½ cup butter softened
½ cup powdered sugar
2 oz cream cheese softened
2 tablespoons maple syrup
¼ teaspoon salt
SERVING:
vanilla ice cream
½ cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
To make the blondie cake, whip the egg whites until they are stiff and form peaks. Add softened butter, ½ cup packed brown sugar, ¼ cup granulated sugar, and vanilla and mix with an electric mixer until smooth.
In a separate bowl sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and ¼ teaspoon salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix well until smooth. Mix in milk, white chocolate chunks, and walnuts.
Pour ingredients into a greased 9— by 13-inch baking pan and bake for 40 to 45 minutes (mine seems to get done after about 30 minutes, so watch closely!) or until cake is golden brown on top.
While cake bakes, combine all ingredients for the sauce in a medium bowl with an electric mixer. The sauce will be fluffy at this point.
Arrange the cake on the skillet or plate. Heat up the sauce for 30 to 60 seconds in the microwave until hot and pourable. Place a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the cake, then drizzle some of the sauce over the top, followed by a tablespoon of chopped walnuts. Serve immediately.

Jelly Rolls

This is another recipe that brings back memories. My mom often made these when I was growing up. It's a sponge cake, filled with the filling of your choice and rolled up. It can be filled with jam, jelly, pudding, or anything else that sounds good.
Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
6 eggs, separated
6 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
Whip egg whites until stiff, set aside. Whip egg yolks with sugar until thick and lemon colored. Beat in water. Add flour baking powder, vanilla and salt, mix well. Carefully fold in egg whites until combined. It should look light yellow with an almost foamy texture.
Spray a 17 or 18 inch jelly roll pan with cooking spray (I always use the Pam with Flour Spray for anything I'm baking. I've never had a problem with things sticking to the pan when I've used that). Pour batter into pan. Be careful to make it even because it doesn't really spread out while cooking. Bake for 10 minutes at 400 or until light brown. It should spring back when touched when it's done. Turn out onto a dish towel that's been sprinkled with powdered sugar. Let sit for just a minute, then roll it up with the towel. Let it sit on a wire rack while cooling. It's a good idea to unroll and re-roll a few times while it's cooling. This helps prevent cracking.
When it's cool, you can fill it with the filling of your choice. In the picture above, I used chocolate pudding, one small box with 1 1/2 cups milk.

Flaky Pie Crust

My mom is an expert pie maker. I believe she learned this recipe from a roommate while in college. Pie crust can be tricky, but really isn't hard once you get it down.

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

3/4 c shortening

1/4 c cold butter

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp sugar

1/3 c cold water

Sift dry ingredients and cut shortening and butter into flour until dough resembles corn meal. One of the tricks to pie crust is having your ingredients cold. I often use frozen butter.

I love to use my food processor. It makes the process so much easier. Just pulse several times until it looks similar to the picture above. But, if you don't have a food processor, don't despair, my mom has never used one for crust, a fork or pastry cutter also works.

Add water a little at a time, pulsing just until dough starts to stick together. You want to mix as little as possible after adding the water, or you'll end up with a tough crust.

Divide dough in half. Roll the dough out onto a floured piece of waxed paper. Use your pie plate to make sure you've rolled it big enough, leaving extra for it to fit down inside the pie plate. Turn the dough over into the pie plate and gently remove the wax paper. Trim the dough just over the edges of the pie plate, then shape the edges with your fingers. If you're going to bake the crust without filling, poke holes all over the crust with a fork. Bake at 375 for about 20 minutes or until golden brown. Makes 2 crusts (unless you ruin one or both).

This takes a little practice. Don't give up if it doesn't always work. If your crust doesn't look presentable, DON"T try to roll it out again. The less you work with the dough, the better it will taste. Even though I've been making pies for years, I still ruin crusts occasionally, like the one pictured below. When that happens, I just dump the whole thing onto a baking sheet, sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon, and bake it. The kids (and I) think it's a great treat.

Failure isn't all bad.

Creamy Lemon Pie

I love all things lemon, but this is one of my favorties.

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar

6 tablespoons cornstarch

1 cup milk

6 egg yolks, lightly beaten

1/4 cup butter

2 tablespoons grated lemon peel

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

1/2 sour cream

1 cup whipping cream, whipped

1 pie shell (9 inches), baked

Directions:

In a saucepan, combine the sugar and cornstarch. Stir in milk until smooth. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Reduce heat; cook and stir 2 minutes more.

Remove from heat. Stir a small amount of hot filling into egg yolks; return all to the pan. Bring to a gentle boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in butter and lemon peel. Gently stir in juice. Cool to room temperature. Fold in sour cream and whipped cream. Pour into pie shell. Chill at least 1 hour before serving.

Hot Fudge Sauce

INGREDIENTS
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup butter
4 cups confectioners' sugar
1 14 oz can evaporated milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
DIRECTIONS
In a large saucepan, combine the chocolate chips and butter. Cook and stir over low heat until melted (I usually do this step in the microwave)
Gradually mix in the sugar and milk. Increase heat to a boil. Cook, stirring constantly, for 8 minutes. Remove from heat, and then stir in vanilla and salt. Serve warm. Store in refrigerator.

Tiny Cherry Cheesecakes

Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup baking cocoa
1/2 cup cold butter
2 tablespoons cold water
FILLING:
2 packages (3 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 can (21 ounces) cherry or strawberry pie filling

Directions: In a small bowl, combine flour, sugar and cocoa; cut in butter until crumbly. Gradually add water, tossing with a fork until dough forms a ball. Shape into 24 balls. Place in greased miniature muffin cups; press dough onto the bottom and up the sides of each cup. In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Beat in milk and vanilla. Add egg; beat on low just until combined. Spoon about 1 tablespoonful into each cup. Bake at 325° for 15-18 minutes or until set. Cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes. Carefully remove from pans to cool completely. Top with pie filling. Store in the refrigerator. Yield: 2 dozen.

Cream Puffs

Cream Puffs are really not that hard to make(unless you're making 180 of them to give away at Christmas-not really a good idea), but they make an impressive dessert. One recipe will make 25-30 small puffs.

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup butter
1 cup water
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 eggs

FILLING

You can use any filling you'd like, but this is my favorite:

1 (3.4 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
1 1/4 cups milk
1 cup heavy cream, whipped
1 teaspoon almond extract

GLAZE:

4 TBS butter

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

3 heaping Tablespoons cocoa

2 Tablespoons milk

To make filling: Prepare pudding according to instructions on package, but use only 1 1/4 cups milk. Fold in whipped cream, and 1 teaspoon almond extract. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
In a large pot, bring water and butter to a rolling boil. Stir in flour and salt until the mixture forms a ball. It should look similar to this:

Let it cool for 5 minutes. Transfer the dough to a large mixing bowl. Using a wooden spoon or stand mixer, beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each. When it's mixed enough, if should look like this:

Drop by tablespoonfuls onto a very lightly greased baking sheet. I like to use a Tablespoon size cookie scoop. I can fit 20 onto a cookie sheet like this:

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown. Centers should be dry. Make sure not to under cook or they will fall. They should be a nice golden brown and look like this:

Immediately poke sides with a toothpick or a sharp knife to let the steam escape. Move to wire rack. When the shells are cool, carefully cut off the tops with a sharp bread or slicing knife. You can pull out any of the web like stuff inside if you prefer (this makes them easier to fill) and spoon the pudding mixture into them.

To make Glaze, melt the butter, then mix in the rest of the ingredients. Stir until smooth. Let it cool some, so it's not so runny, then spoon some on top of each cream puff.

Cinnamon Rolls

I love this recipe because it uses a bread machine, so less work for me! And of course, they are delicious. It's a good idea to turn them out onto another pan when they come out of the oven so that all the filling doesn't end up on the bottom of your pan.
Keep in mind bread machines are not all created equal. A cheap bread machine may not produce a quality product. I use a Zojurushi and would recommend it to anyone.

INGREDIENTS
1 cup warm milk (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
2 eggs, room temperature
1/3 cup margarine, melted
4 1/2 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup white sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons bread machine yeast

1 cup brown sugar, packed
2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/3 cup butter, softened

1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS
Place ingredients in the pan of the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select dough cycle; press Start.
After the dough has doubled in size turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, cover and let rest for 10 minutes. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon.
Roll dough into a 16x21 inch rectangle. Spread dough with 1/3 cup butter and sprinkle evenly with sugar/cinnamon mixture. Roll up dough and cut into 12 rolls. Place rolls in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking pan. Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
Bake rolls in preheated oven until golden brown, about 15 minutes. While rolls are baking, beat together cream cheese, 1/4 cup butter, confectioners' sugar, vanilla extract and salt. Spread frosting on warm rolls before serving.