Spumoni Cake

Spumoni is Tom's favorite ice cream flavor. Well, except for any combination with peanut butter in it. Anyway, what he loves about spumoni is the nut, cherry and chocolate flavors layered and swirled with each other to create the unique combination, yet retain their own individual flavors. When I saw Katy's Spumoni Cake @ Food for a Hungry Soul, I knew I had to give it a try.

Traditional Italian spumoni is a combination of pistachio ice cream with chopped pistachios, cherry or fruit flavored ice cream with candied cherries or fruits, and chocolate ice cream. Although Katy's recipe calls for an almond flavored cake layer, I decided to stick with the traditional version and use pistachio flavoring and pistachio nuts. However, I didn't have any candied fruit, so I stayed true to Katy's use of maraschino cherries. I think I would like a little stronger maraschino cherry flavor next time, so I ordered a bottle of maraschino cherry flavoring to use next time.

I did not frost the cake, but instead drizzled it with a semisweet chocolate glaze.


The result was a very moist, tender cake that is as tasty as it is festive.



Spumoni Cake
Adapted from Food for a Hungry Soul

• 1 box yellow cake mix (I used Duncan Hines)
• 4 large eggs
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup sour cream (I only had "lite" sour cream so that is what I used)
• 1 small box vanilla instant pudding
• 1/3 cup chopped pistachios
• 1/2 teaspoon pistachio flavoring
• 1 - 4 oz. jar of maraschino cherries, drained and roughly chopped
• 2 squares unsweetened chocolate
• 2 squares semisweet chocolate
• 2 tablespoons butter
• red and green food coloring

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease one large tube or bundt pan with cooking spray or oil.

Combine the cake mix, eggs, oil, sour cream and pudding in a large bowl. Beat at medium speed with a hand or stand mixer for about 2 minutes until the batter is thick and smooth.

Put 2 cups of the batter in a smaller bowl. Add the pistachios, pistachio flavoring and 4 to 6 drops of green food coloring. Mix by hand with a rubber spatula until completely combined. Transfer the batter to the bundt pan, smoothing the batter slightly. Wash and dry the bowl and spatula.

Put 2 more cups of the batter into the clean bowl. Add the maraschino cherries and 4 to 6 drops of red food coloring. Again, mix by hand with the clean rubber spatula until completely combined. Layer that batter in the bundt pan on top of the green pistachio batter, being careful not to mix the batters together. Wash and dry the spatula.

In a small bowl, microwave the unsweetened chocolate until it is just melted, checking and stirring every 15 seconds or so. Do not overheat the chocolate as it will become grainy and separate.

Add the melted chocolate to the remaining batter and mix well. Pour the chocolate layer over the cherry layer.

Bake the cake for 50 to 60 minutes. Check the cake by inserting a toothpick or small skewer into the cake. If it comes out clean, it's done. Cool slightly and invert cake onto a plate.

While cake is still slightly warm, put the semisweet chocolate squares and butter into a small bowl and microwave until it is just melted, checking and stirring every 15 seconds or so until the mixture is smooth. Drizzle over the cake with a spoon.

Chocolate Flan Cake

Flan is a creamy, soft custard baked on top of a layer of sugar syrup that has been cooked to the caramel stage. It is baked in a water bath and when served, the custard is turned out of the ramekin onto a plate and the caramel becomes the topping.

There is not an ounce of cream cheese in an authentic Flan recipe, nor would any self-respecting Mexican cook use a jar of cajeta (pronounced kah-Heh-tah) or Smuckers Caramel in which to bake her authentic Flan, but for the purposes of this recipe I will call it Flan and I will also use cajeta.

Now that we know what this recipe isn't, let's begin with what it is: A thick-ish layer of caramel poured into the bottom of a bundt pan, over which is poured a prepared chocolate fudge cake and then a blender-ful of three milks, eggs, cream cheese and vanilla is poured into the cake mix, then it's baked in a water bath for two hours. The cake rises through the flan to become the base of the cake and when the cake is done it is inverted onto a serving plate with the caramel bathing the flan and the cake.

It's simple to make. It's impressive to serve. It's rich, creamy, velvety, chocolatey and caramely, and once your guests starting eating the cake, your dining room will be silent save for an occasional mmmmmmmm, ooohhhhhhh and aaahhhhh.

This is, without a doubt, the cake most requested by my dinner guests and the tendency for the flan to crack has never dissuaded anyone from eating their portion.




There are a couple of things you should know before you begin.

First, be sure your bundt pan will comfortably hold 12 cups. This cake will ultimately almost fill the entire pan.

Second, before measuring the Cajeta, spray the inside of your measuring cup with cooking spray. It will release the Cajeta easier. Also, although many recipes list Smuckers Caramel Sauce as a substitute, I have always used Cajeta.

Third, your serving plate must have a slight rim or you will have caramel spilling off the plate all over your counter. You don't want to waste an ounce of that caramel.




Chocolate Flan Cake

• 1 box chocolate fudge cake mix (I use Duncan Hines), plus the ingredients to prepare the cake mix according to package directions
• 1-1/3 cups Cajeta or Smuckers Caramel
• 1 - 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 - 12 ounce can evaporated milk
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1 - 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
• 5 eggs
• 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Preheat oven to 350°

Spray a 12-cup bundt pan generously with cooking spray and pour the caramel topping evenly into the bottom of the pan.

Prepare the cake mix according to the package directions and pour the batter into the pan on top of the caramel.




To make the flan, pour the sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk and whole milk into a blender and add the cream cheese, vanilla and eggs. Blend until smooth, being careful to start the blender at a slower speed and gradually increase it as your blender will be pretty full. Pour the flan mixture slowly over the cake batter.




Spray the underside of a piece of aluminum foil with cooking spray, cover the pan and seal tightly around the edges and center with your fingers.




Set the bundt pan into a large pan (like a lasagna pan) and put in the oven. Pour hot water into the larger pan so that the bundt pan is sitting in about 2-inches of water.

Bake for two hours. Carefully remove the cake pan from the water bath to a rack and allow to cool for about 15 minutes. Peel off the aluminum foil.




Invert the cake on to a large plate. The caramel will flow down the sides of the flan cake. Cool, then refrigerate.

Orange Dreamsicle Cake

First, I would like to thank my foodie friend, Alison of Wish Upon a Chef for turning me on to this recipe.

As noted in her blog post, this recipe is not for purists. It contains two highly processed ingredients: a boxed cake mix and a box of bright colored jello. If these ingredients make your nose curl in disgust, simply hit your back button. I won't be offended.

However, if your response to those ingredients is something along the lines of, Well, that's sounds somewhat interesting. Please continue, well, stick around.

One of those highly processed, pre-packaged ingredients is a box of Duncan Hines Orange Supreme Cake Mix. To be able to acquire a box of this specific cake mix, you must be lucky enough to live in a part of the country where this cake mix is readily available. I'm not. I have never been able to find this product in Conway, Arkansas, where I live.

But I loved the idea of making a cake that is reminiscent of the orange sherbet and vanilla 50-50 ice cream bar I used to buy from the guy who drove the ice cream truck through our neighborhood every summer afternoon during my childhood in the 1950's. So, since Alison's post over two years ago, I made sure to visit every grocery store in every city I've visited since then to see if I could find the elusive cake mix. I struck gold....er, orange....during a visit to my son's house in Savannah just before he moved to Florida almost a year ago and I bought two boxes. They've been sitting in my pantry ever since then.

It's been hot here...hot and sunny...which reminds me of growing up in Fresno, California, where temperatures reach well above 100 degrees daily all summer long, and I've been thinking about those 50-50 bars....and Alison's cake.

Alison adds flaked coconut to her icing and I did, too, but when I make it again, I think I'll leave it out. I love the creamy, silky vanilla icing in concert with the sweet orange of the cake and I thought the coconut was more of a distraction than an enhancement.

I also baked my cake in two 9" round cake pans instead of baking the cake in a 13" X 9" rectangle pan, mostly because the only plate I have large enough to hold a rectangle that size is a cookie sheet and...well...presentation IS everything and I'm just not a beautiful-cake-on-an-old-cookie-sheet kinda gal.

Orange Dreamsicle Cake
by Alison @ Wish Upon a Chef

PRINTABLE RECIPE

For the cake:

• 1 box Duncan Hines Orange Supreme Cake Mix
• 1-1/4 cups orange juice
• 1/4 cup oil
• 1 small box orange jello
• 3 eggs

For the icing:

• 8 ounces heavy whipping cream
• 8 ounces sour cream
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 1-1/4 cups confectioners (powdered) sugar
• 1 cup sweetened coconut flakes (I will leave this out next time)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease a 9"X13" baking pan or spray with cooking spray.

Pour all cake ingredients into a bowl and mix well (about 3 to 4 minutes). Pour batter evenly into prepared baking pan. Bake for 30-35 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool completely before icing. (Alison's note: You can leave the cake in the pan and ice only the top, but I like to turn it out onto a cakeboard and slather a ton of icing on the top and sides)

For the icing: Whip the heavy cream until soft peaks form. While you continue to mix, slowly add the orange juice and confectioner's sugar whipping into to stiffer peaks.

Place the sour cream and coconut in a large bowl. Stir to combine. Gently fold the whipped cream into the coconut mixture until just combined. Smooth over cake and keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

All You Food Purists, Please Move Along....There's Nothing to See Here. Move Along Now.

Between you and me, this recipe is not for our food purist friends. It calls for two package mixes - cake and instant pudding, both of which are enough to send a purist screaming from the kitchen.

Although I generally prefer to use fresh ingredients and make dishes from scratch, when a recipe has worked very well for a number of years...and, of course, the ingredients don't put your life or well-being in danger...I say, why change it?

I've been making this cake since the early 1970's when I received the recipe from a friend and co-worker. The cake is so flavorful, it stands, undressed, on its own merits very well so I used to just finish it off with a dusting of powdered sugar. But several years ago I decided a chocolate glaze would be even better and I was right.

This is a rich, dense, moist and very chocolaty cake that's easy to make and freezes well. I usually cut the cake into quarters and freeze three of the pieces for a later date.

Triple Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Glaze
by Terri Powers for Terri's Table

• 1 - 18.25 ounce packaged devil's food or chocolate fudge cake mix (I prefer to use the chocolate fudge cake mix)
• 1 - 5.9 ounce package instant chocolate pudding mix
• 1 cup sour cream (I used low-fat)
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 4 eggs, gently beaten
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 - 1 ounce squares semisweet baking chocolate

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Prepare a bundt pan by wiping generously with shortening, butter or vegetable oil or spraying with cooking spray. Set aside.

In a large bowl, dump the cake mix, pudding mix, sour cream, oil, eggs and water together. Mix well with an electric mixer on medium until completely combined and smooth. Stir in the chocolate chips and pour into prepared bundt pan.

Bake in preheated oven for 50 to 55 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Cool the cake thoroughly before glazing.

For the glaze:

Put the butter and baking chocolate squares into a small microwavable bowl and heat on high in the microwave, checking and stirring every 15 seconds, until just melted and chocolate and butter are combined and smooth. While the glaze is hot, drizzle over the top of the cake, allowing the glaze to run down in inside and outside of the cake. Allow the glaze to cool completely, cover the cake with plastic wrap and refrigerate.

PRINT THE RECIPE HERE