Monday, November 21, 2016

Carrot Sheet Cake

I married into a family loaded with good cooks/bakers.
My husband's immediate family, plus his relatives on both sides, are excellent with food.  His Cunningham side of the family put together a family cookbook about 14 years ago and it is a treasure.
So many good recipes that we love.  This cake recipe is from his Grandma Cunningham and I had never tried it before until this weekend.  We loved it!

Cake:
4 eggs
1 cup oil (I used canola)
2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
3 cups shredded carrots
2/3 cup chopped walnuts (I used pecans)

Beat eggs, oil and sugar until smooth.  Add dry ingredients and mix well.  Stir in carrots and nuts.  Pour into a greased cookie sheet (jelly roll pan) and bake at 350 for 25 minutes.  Cool before frosting.

Frosting:
1 pkg 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 stick butter, softened
1 tsp. vanilla
4 cups powdered sugar
2/3 cup chopped walnuts (I used pecans)

Beat together until smooth.  Spread over cooled cake.

Tuesday, November 8, 2016

Chocolate Layered Dessert

This dessert is definitely one of my top 5 favorite homemade desserts.  It's one of those things that I feel like I could eat the whole pan and not even feel bad about it.  It has many names in our family, but for the sake of this family-friendly blog, we'll call it the Chocolate Layered Dessert.
You can call it whatever you want, just make sure you call me when you make it.


Crust:
1 cup walnuts, finely chopped
1 cup flour
1/2 cup butter, softened
*Blend together well and spread in a 9X13. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes. Let cool.

First Layer:
1 cup powdered sugar
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 small tub cool whip
*Beat powdered sugar and cream cheese until smooth. Add cool whip. Spread over cooled crust.

Second Layer:
1 small box instant vanilla pudding
1 small box instant chocolate pudding
3 cups milk
*Mix for 2 minutes. Spread over cream cheese layer. Top with another small tub of cool whip.

*Side-note: I use real whipped cream instead of cool whip because I have gross-out issues with cool whip. It takes a little longer but it is well worth it.

Friday, November 4, 2016

Chocolate Cake with Toasted Marshmallow Filling

My sister-in-law, Jen, is an amazing cook/baker.  Everything she makes is good.  Our whole family gets excited to see what she is going to bring to our gatherings.
She made this cake for my nephew's birthday and it was DELICIOUS.  The frosting, the filling, the cake...it was all perfection.

Cake:
2 cups flour
2 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, preferably Dutch process
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups water
2 Tbs. white vinegar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs

*Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter the bottoms and sides of four 8-inch round cake pans.  Line the bottom of each pan with a round of parchment or waxed paper.  Butter the paper.
*Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.  Whisk to combine.  Add the oil and sour cream and whisk to blend.  Gradually beat in water.  Blend in vinegar and vanilla.  Whisk in eggs and beat until well blended.  Scrape down sides and make sure batter is well mixed.  Divide evenly among the 3 pans.  Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.  Let cool in pans for 20 minutes.  Invert onto a wire cooling rack, peel off paper liners and let cool completely. (Cakes are very soft so you might want to freeze them for 30 minutes before assembling).

For the Toasted Marshmallow Filling:
16 large marshmallows
1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (7½-ounce) jar Marshmallow Fluff

For the Malted Chocolate Frosting:
2 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 cups powdered sugar
¾ cup Ovaltine Classic
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
8 ounces semisweet or dark chocolate chocolate, melted and cooled
½ cup heavy cream

Make the Toasted Marshmallow Filling: Place the marshmallows on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil and sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Place on the lowest rack of oven, and broil marshmallows until nice and brown on top, keeping an eye on them the entire time so they don't burn. Remove pan from oven and gently turn the marshmallows over, and broil until the other side is golden brown.

Beat the butter and powdered sugar on low speed until blended together, about 1 minute. Add the vanilla extract and increase the speed to medium-high; beat for 3 minutes. Stop the mixer, add the Marshmallow Fluff and toasted marshmallows, and mix on the lowest speed for about 1 minute, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.

Make the Malted Chocolate Frosting: Beat the butter and powdered sugar on low speed until blended together, about 1 minute. Add the Ovaltine, vanilla and salt, and continue to beat on low until well combined, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add the melted chocolate and beat on medium speed until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the heavy cream and beat on medium-high speed for another minute.

Assemble the cake by layering cake and marshmallow filling and frosting with chocolate frosting.

*Cake recipe from Becoming Betty and frosting/filling recipes from Brown-eyed Baker.

Tuesday, November 1, 2016

Betty is on Instagram!

Becoming Betty has an Instagram!
Follow along to find out when I post a new recipe, what I like to buy at the grocery store, and where I like to eat out!

@becoming__betty