Weekly Cake | Give us this week our weekly cake.

Week 24: Pistachio Cake

July 10, 2012 by Nina Spezzaferro

I am especially proud of this cake. I think it turned out beautifully and tasted great too. I owed my dad a belated Father’s Day cake since I was out of town on Dad’s Day. Pistachio is one of my dad’s favorite flavors, so I had no doubt this one would be a hit. And based on my previous experience with using yellow cake mix as a base (Beer Cake and Irish Cream Cake), I knew this recipe would yield a super moist and tasty treat. The only change I made was adding a full tablespoon of almond extract instead of the called for 1/2 teaspoon. (more…)

Category 52 Cakes | Tags: , bundt, cake mix, chocolate, ganache, pistachio, pudding, yellow cake | 2 Comments

Week 23: Piña Colada Cake

July 1, 2012 by Nina Spezzaferro

This is my Piña Colada Cake, or as a friend renamed it – Niña Colada Cake. =) I think I like the latter name better. (more…)

Category 52 Cakes | Tags: , bundt, coconut, pina colada, pineapple, strawberry | 6 Comments

Week 22: Thunder Cake

June 30, 2012 by Nina Spezzaferro

I’ve got to admit, this cake didn’t taste great, but it sure does look pretty. This cake was the second of two I baked with my friend, Joe. For the first, see: Week 21: Gooey Butter Cake. (more…)

Category 52 Cakes | Tags: , buttercream, chocolate, layer cake, strawberry, tomato | 4 Comments

Week 21: Gooey Butter Cake

June 24, 2012 by Nina Spezzaferro

This cake was sneaky. When it was tasted after cooling for 30 minutes or so, it was good. But a few hours later, oh my, it was amazing. In full disclosure, I finished the last bits of it days later by eating the filling out of the crust like a rabid dog. It was that good. (more…)

Category 52 Cakes | Tags: , butter, crust, dough, powdered sugar | 7 Comments

Week 20: Key Lime Cake

June 21, 2012 by Nina Spezzaferro

It’s summer, so it’s as good a time as any to help yourself to a slice of refreshing lime cake. This recipe was inspired by a “Key Lime Poke Cake” recipe I found on the Betty Crocker website. It sounded like key lime pie, which I LOVE. The layer of topping that soaks into the cake, just under the frosting reminded me of the method used when making tres leeches cake. It sounded delicious, but I had two concerns – the fussiness and the calorie content. Don’t get me wrong, I love a fussy, fatty cake, but sometimes you need some balance. So I cut some corners on the Betty Crocker recipe and made it my own. It was so easy, I didn’t even prepare a mise en place. You’ll see why. (more…)

Category 52 Cakes | Tags: , 9x13, cake mix, diet soda, key lime cake, lime, white cake | No Comments

Week 19: Pecan Sour Cream Pound Cake

June 9, 2012 by Nina Spezzaferro

This cake makes for an excellent breakfast… or lunch.. or dinner… or dessert. It’s divine.

I used this recipe, but took the reviewers’ advice and reduced the sugar to 2.5 cups and increased the baking temp to 325 to shorten the baking time to about an hour. See the recipe at the end of this post for a full summary of my tweaks. (more…)

Category 52 Cakes | Tags: , bundt, pecans, pound cake, sour cream | 3 Comments

Week 18: Chocolate Blackout Cake

June 2, 2012 by Nina Spezzaferro

This cake looks six stories tall. It was. And I’m so proud of how straight I got the sides. Earlier this year, I had scoped out cake recipes for my mom. She had requested a chocolate cake that incorporated coffee with a homemade chocolate buttercream. And Ina Garten had just the recipe, Beatty’s Chocolate Cake. There is even a handy dandy video. (more…)

Category 52 Cakes | Tags: , chocolate, layer, layer cake | 3 Comments

Week 17: White Almond Gift Box Cake

May 23, 2012 by Nina Spezzaferro

This cake was months in the making. What I mean by that is I baked the cake way back in March, the weekend before I started cake decorating class. Since I didn’t have the energy to assemble the cake on that particular day, I wrapped it up and froze it to be assembled at a later time. (more…)

Category 52 Cakes, Cake Decorating | Tags: , almond, blue, crumb coat, layer cake, pink, white | 2 Comments

Week 16: Flan

May 14, 2012 by Nina Spezzaferro

I attempted to make flan in celebration of Cinco de Mayo. “But flan isn’t cake,” you might be thinking. You are correct! It’s technically custard. But for the purposes of last weekend, flan was cake.