Make a Cake Mix Taste Homemade

I wish I were a skilled baker. I most especially wish I were a skilled cake baker. Now don't get me wrong, I have constructed some decent cakes in the past. When my two oldest were younger I went all out making their cakes. However, they were not especially spectacularly baked.

I could construct and decorate a cake decently, but the cake baking itself was just eh, so-so.

Fast forward several cakes, a few parties, and realizing that we always had left over cake, and I eventually just stuck with making cupcakes for birthday parties.

Occasionally though, I still want to make a small birthday cake.

Like for Little's Robot Birthday Party, for example.

I shared the Robot Birthday Party details yesterday. This party came together in under a week. Basically, I was WAY behind, and I wanted the making of the cake to not take up too much time. So I scratched off making a birthday cake from scratch off my list...hehehe.

However, cake mixes from a box don't offer the density and structure that a good from scratch cake does.

Did you know that you can use a cake mix as your base and with just a few extra ingredients you can make it more like a homemade cake?

Well, you can.

Bam.

Mind blown!

I have actually tried a few recipes that claim to achieve this "from scratch" cake mix. I have been disappointed many times, not really getting the results I wanted.

I finally found the perfect recipe to create this Make a Cake Mix Taste Homemade. Perfect, I tell you.  Don't judge the recipe by my less-than-perfect decorating. The cake was great, and it all started with a regular old store bought cake mix.

Make a Cake Mix Taste Homemade
midget momma

1 box cake mix (I used vanilla)
1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
dash of salt
1 cup sour cream
1 cup water
3 eggs
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Whisk the dry ingredients together in a bowl. In the bowl of a mixer, combine the wet ingredients. Add in half of the dry ingredients and mix until smooth. Then add in the rest of the dry ingredients and mix the batter for two minutes.

Pour the batter halfway up a prepared pan (or 2/3 full cupcake tins).

Bake at 300 degrees for 20-30 minutes depending on the size of the pan. Then, while keeping the oven door closed turn up the heat to 325 and cook for the same time.

Cake is done when a toothpick comes out clean.

Cool on a cake rack.

Now go on out and make yourself a not-so-from-scratch from scratch cake.

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Slow Cooker Chocolate Pudding Cake {Slow Cooker Saturday}

 

"Dad is great. Makes us chocolate cake!"

I love Bill Cosby. By the way, the above little jingle was from a Bill Cosby skit. Just in case you didn't know that and were perplexed over my sudden declaration of love for Bill Cosby.

I watched The Cosby Show pretty regularly as a kid. Remember when nighttime TV was kid friendly? That was good TV. I really miss it. I think it would be rather grand to watch a TV show with my kids. A little Full House or maybe some Family Matters. 

Sigh. Good times. I know there are still some shows that are kid friendly, you know like Phinneas and Ferb. Still they are really hard to come by.

I digress.

This all started with some chocolate cake, a little jingle and some love for Bill Cosby. So basically what you really need to know is that this all started with chocolate cake.

A Slow Cooker Chocolate Pudding Cake to be exact.

A gooey, chocolatey, rich, and velvety chocolate cake to be more exacter (totally made up my own word). Which is all the more delightful because it cooks itself up in the slow cooker. Glory be.

The ingredient list isn't too long. You probably have everything in your pantry, except maybe the Dutch processed cocoa powder. Trust me friends, you will want to use Dutch processed cocoa powder--don't use the regular stuff. I do happen to know from experience. The taste is drastically different. By different I mean it goes from inedible and trash worthy to glorious and dish me up the biggest serving possible please.

I have said before that I am not a huge fan of chocolate cake. The Chocolate Sheet Cake  I made a while back until now had been the only chocolate cake I liked. This of course is not including brownies, which I love dearly. Yes I just said I dearly love brownies, like they were my grandma.

Now I can add this Slow Cooker Chocolate Pudding Cake to the Chocolate Sheet Cake. Both of them are good for completely different reasons. I will be honest, both of them remind me of different aspects of a brownie...which is probably why I love these cakes so much.

Serve it warm. Serve it room temperature. Serve it cool from the fridge (that is The Hubs' fav). Basically just serve it up. You won't be sorry.

Slow Cooker Chocolate Pudding Cake
adapted from America's Test Kitchen Slow Cooker Revolution

Print Recipe

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup Dutch processed cocoa powder
2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
4 Tablespoons butter, melted cooled
1 egg yolk
2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
1 cup boiling water

whipping cream (optional)

Line the back side of the slow cooker with an aluminum foil collar. Make the collar by layering two sheets of aluminum foil that measure about 16" long. Fold over each other in thirds, so that you end up with a 6 layered foil rectangle measuring about 4" by 16". Press the foil collar to the the backside of the slow cooker. Make sure that the foil collar does not reach the top of the slow cooker. Spray with cooking spray.

Whisk the flour, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 cup cocoa, baking powder, and salt together in a bowl. In a smaller bowl, whisk together milk, melted butter, egg yolk, and vanilla. This mixture might clump up a bit. That is okay. Add this mixture to the flour mixture, stirring until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chips. The batter will be sticky and stiff.

Scrape the batter into the slow cooker and spread the batter to the edges.

Mix the rest of the 1/2 sugar and 1/4 cup cocoa powder. Sprinkle the mixture over the batter in the slow cooker.Slowly pour the boiling water over the top. Do not stir. Cover and cook on high for 1 1/2-2 hours. Cake is done when the top looks a little cracked and the sauce is bubbling.

Remove foil collar and let the cake sit for 10 minutes before serving.

Top with a dollop of whipped cream if desired.

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Cherry Almond Cake

Summer in a bowl. In a dainty, delightful dessert bowl.

I am not always a fan of cherries. They are a fickle, high maintenance fruit. I don't do high maintenance.

I mean, for reals, cherries are a lot of work. You can't just eat them. You have to pluck and pit them. Call me lazy, but I hate to work for my fruit. Cherries and pomegranates duel it out for the diva fruit in my book.

Since I do care for them both a great deal, I occasionally put my laziness aside and I work for my fruit.

Recently we got a whole flat full of cherries. Gloriously plump, red, and delightful cherries.

Seriously they are so beautiful. I guess if I was that beautiful I would be high maintenance too. Hahaha.

Now since we love cherries, but not enough to sit down and eat that many in a few days, we decided to utilize all our bright and cheery cherries.

If you follow me on Instagram ( @larissa_anotherday ), then you know we canned over half of them.

We also saved a few cups of them to bake the yummiest dessert ever. Here is a "keep it real" moment. I did not bake this dessert. I thought the dessert sounded so/so. Hubby was the one who tried and tweaked this recipe. He was the one who baked it and gave me the "you are gonna be sorry for making fun of this dessert" look.

So yes, this lovely little dessert was completely made by Hubby (together with the help of Little).

I just snapped the pictures, scooped it up, and happily scarfed it down.

The consistency of this cake is more like German Pancakes, thicker than flan, but not airy like cake. The cherries sit happily amidst the cake. The top is delightfully golden and sugary. There is just the most delicious hint of almond.

Serve with a few scoops of vanilla ice cream...YUM!

Cherry season thanks for showing up. I sure love ya.

Cherry Almond Cake

2 cups pitted cherries
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
pinch of salt
3/4 cup almond milk
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Lightly spray a 9x9 baking dish. Pour the cherries into the bottom of the baking dish.

Mix eggs, sugar, flour, and salt in a bowl. Whisk to blend. Add in milk, oil, and extract. Whisk until smooth.

Pour the mixture over the cherries.

Bake for 45 minutes. Cool slightly on a wire rack.

Serve warm with ice cream or serve cool.

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Reasons to Skip the Housework

Beach Birthday Party

This year was Oldest's 9th birthday.

It was his first non-party year. That was what was decided after his last birthday. No more big parties after 8.

Yep, no more big parties. Just the birthday boy, a couple of friends, and a low-key activity.

So when Oldest decided that he wanted to go swimming for his low-key activity, it seemed okay to just have a teeny, tiny beach-themed...er...um...

...lunch...not at all a party...

There may or may not have been some minor decorations.

There may or may not have been balloons, and maybe a tad of a tablescape on my favorite stand-by red dresser.

But really, it wasn't a party...

I promise...

Okay it was kind of a party. Just a little, itty, bitty one.

I mean, one of my kids was heard to say, "This is all you are going to decorate? Just this little spot?"

So see I did reign it in. 

I just couldn't help myself. I wanted to do just a smidge. Something to make his day special.

Once he decided he wanted to go swimming, I settled on a beachy theme to welcome them once they returned from swimming.

Bright colors. Beach balls. Colorful beach towels. Cold drinks.

 

I made a simple...I mean siiiimple banner of crepe paper.

There were some beach posters I made using simple geometric shapes from PicMonkey. 

I was lucky to find some Summer toys even in the bitter coldness of February.

There was also a ceiling of balloons. It added such a great effect.

Then there were the cakes.

My favorite was the small, simple blue wave cake.

Before the cake, we had to have our Beach Picnic Lunch.

Oldest LOVES hotdogs, so that had to make the lunch list.

They ate on laid out beach towels and we all pretended it was warm and tropical outside instead of snow-covered.

We had chips and fruit. I love, love, love the yellow print bags that I found for the chips.

It would seem that lunch was enjoyed by Oldest.

And his friends.

I think it was a success. Good times were had by all at this non-party birthday.

Hope you enjoy, are inspired, and feel a bit

of Summer during this never-ending winter.

Thanks for reading!

Chocolate Pecan Zucchini Cake

Heaven.
Help.
Me.

Yum and double yum. I will take two pieces...okay twist my arm, three.

Recently I was the lucky recipient of a giant zucchini. GIANT. My friend was probably relieved I took this off her hands, but since zucchini can make me stuff like this cake, I will gladly accept any zucchini dropped on my doorstep.

I better be careful what I wish for. A girl can only really use so much zucchini. I have already used it in cake and bread. Muffins are probably in the horizon. I have used mixed it into a family favorite taco bake. I paired up zucchini with yellow squash and made a squash bake. My freezer might also have some bags of shredded zucchini resting for a rainy day.

This cake would make any day splendid. The chocolate cake is moist and perfectly cakey. But what really takes the cake...whew man I am funny...

Sorry.

Continue. Okay what takes the cake, or should I say tops the cake, is what makes this cake.

That was a really confusing way of saying the brown sugar, pecan, and milk chocolate chip mixture on top of this cake is glorious.

Zucchini, have you met brown sugar, pecan, and milk chocolate?

You haven't?

Well, let me introduce you...you will be fast friends.

Do you have some extra zucchini? Do you have a neighbor who has been begging and pleading for you to take their extra zucchini?

My suggestion. Take it. Shred it. Make this cake.

Then eat this cake.

Chocolate Pecan Zucchini Cake
Jamie Cooks It Up

Cake:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup canola oil
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups flour
4 tablespoons cocoa
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 cups shredded zucchini

Topping:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup pecans, roughly chopped
1 cup milk chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix softened butter, oil, sugar, and eggs until creamy. About 3 minutes.

In separate bowl, mix flour, cocoa, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves, and baking soda.

Pour buttermilk and vanilla into the wet mixture. Then slowly incorporate the dry ingredients. Mix until well combined.

Now stir in the zucchini until combined.

Pour into a well greased 9x13 pan. Smooth the batter evenly in the pan.

Mix up the topping ingredients. Sprinkle the topping evenly over the cake.

Bake for 35-40 minutes. DO NOT over bake. Even with zucchini in it, it will dry out if you cook it too long.
The cake will be done when a toothpick comes out cleanly.

This cake is great warm. Great later that night. Great days later. If you can keep it around that long, that is.

Happy zucchini using!

Who Let the Dogs Out??

Who, Who, Who, Who, Who!

We had a puppy themed party over here.

We had a pretty good time and there was tons of puppy fun.

I was really happy with the results of the party...I am, however, NOT happy with the photo results. I was not able to get a good tablescape shot, which means no picture of how everything tied together..wah.There is not one really great shot of my little party man...wah, wah. The photographic evidence I do have of the party is not of the greatest quality...wah, wah, wah.

Can you tell I was a little more than bummed? Is that not just the silliest thing ever? Yes, it sure is. Little Man had fun and I KNOW that is the most important part. Thanks for indulging my whine fest.

On to our Puppy Party-

The ONLY good (I use that word mildly) photos of our sweet boy.

The best part of the whole night. He actually ate his "dog food" cake like a puppy. Not because he knows that is how puppies eat, but because it was so big and he couldn't figure out how to eat it. Then we all laughed, then he kept doing it.

LOVE it!!

made this little tag on picnik.com with help from

this little how-to

Tutorial on his birthday shirt tomorrow.

Linking this party:

Making Monday Marvelous: C.R.A.F.T
Just Something I Whipped Up: The Girl Creative
Take-a-Look Tuesdays: Sugar Bee Craft

Weekend of Carnivals and a Popcorn Birthday Cake

I think I might just sleep ALL this week. Oh I wish! What a weekend. We started with this fun little school volunteer project:

15 games signs

1 large clown

600 small pennant cut out, then stapled to endless feet of yarn

6 words made up of 29 letters hand painted no there is still no ink in my printer

sign up sheets

rolls of tape

and two days of volunteering later...

the school carnival is done. I may not be signing up for this next year I am just saying. AND the worst thing is, that I was in charge of taking pictures of the carnival for the school yearbook, so guess who didn't take pictures of her own kids...oh yeah that is me. Haha. 

With one carnival done, it was time for another. A MUCH better and more worthwhile one. 

Yesterday we had a family celebration for our littlest man's first birthday..which technically is tomorrow, he won't know.

We had a sweet little carnival themed birthday. 

We had polka dots, cake, cotton candy, hot dogs, nachos, all our carnival favorites. Our little man even had his own thing of popcorn, in cake form.

Popcorn Birthday Cake

This cake was my favorite part. I LOVE homemade marshmallow fondant. SO easy peasy to make AND it actually tastes good. Quick recipe...

Easy Peasy Marshmallow Fondant

this is a half recipe

1 10 oz bag of large marshmallows

2-3 TBS of water

4 cups of powdered sugar

1/2 cup shortening

Melt marshmallows and water in a large bowl in the microwave in 30 second intervals. Stir every interval. It will take about 2 and a half minutes. When the marshmallows are melted, stir in 3 cups of powdered sugar and stir until hard to stir. Shortening up the counter, and LIBERALLY shortening up your hands...yes it will feel GROSS. Dump the marshmallows on the counter and knead in the rest of the powdered sugar. Keep kneading until it is a firm, smooth ball. 5-7 minutes. You can use right away, but it will be a little firmer if you wrap in plastic wrap and store in the fridge for a couple hours. 

Use gel food coloring and then use this for just about anything...AND it tastes GREAT.

I didn't want to make two cakes, so I made these cupcakes for the rest of us. Oh and by the way, they look cute, but I have learned that you shouldn't put the cotton candy on until right before serving...the frosting melts the cotton candy and that is not quite as cute.

Now the important stuff. Our little man...after all this was all for him.

What did he think of his little birthday celebration?

I am pretty sure he LOVED it.

What's not to like...cotton candy, good. Frosting, good. Cake, GOOD.

He had so much fun with the cake that we had to wash his clothes right away, which lead to glorious diaper time. Check out his belly full of cake.

I wasn't kidding when I said I might just sleep this whole week. BUT if you are lucky, I will remember to post this birthday hat how-to.