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Luscious Lemon Frosting Recipe for Cupcakes & Cakes

May 2, 2011 1 Comment

This lemon frosting recipe is a breeze to make and tastes absolutely scrumptious.  It’s got a double dose of lemon, first from fresh lemon juice and then from lemon zest. The cream cheese adds another flavor note that works beautifully with lemon.

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Also… super cute is the new Single Cupcake Box – you can even order them with personalized labels.  The scallop insert that holds the cupcake in place comes in white, pink, blue or chocolate brown.  Matching satin ribbon is included too!

Lemon Frosting Recipe (adapted from Allrecipes.com)

  • 1 (8 ounce) package of cream cheese, softened
  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
  • 2 tsp. grated lemon zest
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 5 cups confectioners’ sugar (powdered)

Beat cream cheese, butter, lemon juice, zest and vanilla together until smooth and fluffy.  Add confectioners’ sugar in two additions.  Beat until creamy.  Add more sugar if you prefer a stiffer frosting.  Makes approximately 3 1/2 cups.

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Orange Poppyseed Cake!

April 11, 2011 2 Comments

Diva Entertains Orange Poppyseed Cake

About two months ago I saw a recipe for an Orange Poppyseed Cake that sounded fabulous.  So much so that I craved it.  I made the cake and to say that it was less than hoped for was an understatement.  It was dry and the orange flavor was almost non-existent.  But I was hell-bent on making a delicious version of this cake and I must have made 10 cakes, each one a bit (or ‘a lot’) tweaked, until I came up with a recipe that everyone loved.

This cake is made with yogurt; I used the thick, rich Greek style yogurt for flavor and moistness.  Dannon has a great version of it that is far less expensive than some of the other brands.

Orange Yogurt Poppyseed Cake

Makes 1 (10 inch) Bundt Cake

  • 3 sticks unsalted butter, softened
  • 3 cups sugar
  • 6 large eggs, room temperature
  • 1/3 cup frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
  • 3/4 cup plain yogurt
  • 2 Tbsp. heavy cream
  • 4 Tbsp. poppyseeds
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 3 cups flour
  • 1/4 tsp. salt
  • 1/4 tsp. baking soda
  1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.  Spray a 10-inch Bundt pan with nonstick baking spray (preferably one with flour).
  2. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar on high for 3 minutes until light and fluffy.  Add eggs, 2 at a time, beating well to incorporate.  Add yogurt and beat to incorporate, then do the same with the heavy cream.
  3. Add the flour, 1 cup at a time, beating just to incorporate.  After 2nd cup of flour add salt, baking soda and poppyseeds, then remaining 1 cup of flour. Beat just to incorporate well.
  4. Pour batter into prepared pan.  Bake time will be between 1 1/4 hours and 1 1/2 hours.  Start checking at 1 hour to gauge doneness.   Cake is done when a knife inserted in the center of the sides of the cake comes out clear, without crumbs.

Icing

  • 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  • 6 Tbsp. heavy cream*
  1. Add powdered sugar and heavy cream to medium bowl and stir (by hand or with electric beaters) until well blended.

*I happen to like a thick icing but you can adjust the cream until you create your preferred icing consistency.

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Filed Under: Cakes

Delicious Apple Cake Recipe

November 4, 2010 Leave a Comment

Diva Entertains Apple Cake Slice

Presenting a family favorite!  This easy apple cake is super moist and is rich with apples and cinnamon.  Aside from the slicing of the apples, it just takes minutes to pull together.

I add more apples than the original recipe calls for.  And I always use Granny Smith because I like that they aren’t overly sweet. When mixed with sugar the apple taste is still strong and pure.  And although it’s only a small amount, the 1/3 cup of orange juice that the recipe calls for really brightens the flavors.

Diva Entertains Apple Cake

Although our apple cake recipe needs no frosting, a sprinkle of powdered sugar would be pretty and delicious.  However, for me, I like nice layer of powdered sugar glaze:)

Apple Cake Recipe (adapted from Every Day With Rachael Ray Magazine)

  • 1 cup canola or vegetable oil
  • 2.5 cups flour
  • 2 tsp. baking powder
  • 3 tsp. ground cinnamon, divided
  • 4 or 5 large Granny Smith apples (1 1/2 – 2 lbs.), peeled, cored and thinly sliced (but not too thin)
  • 2 1/4 cups granulated sugar, divided
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1/3 cup orange juice
  • 2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Spray a 12 cup Bundt cake with non-stick cooking spray.  In a large boil, combine the apples with 1/4 cup of the sugar and 1 tsp. of the cinnamon.  Toss well and set aside.
  2. Either in a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or with electric beaters, beat the 1 cup of oil with the eggs, orange juice, vanilla and remaining 2 cups of sugar on medium-high for 1 minutes.  Add the flour in 3 batches, adding the baking powder and remaining 2 tsp. of cinnamon after the first batch.  Mix just until combined.  Fold in the apples until combined.  Transfer to the pan, leaving about an inch at the top, and bake until golden and a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean, about 1 hour and 15 (may take up to 1 hour and 30 minutes).  Let cake cool in the pan for about 30 minutes before unmolding in onto a rack to cool completely.

If you would like to add a glaze similar to mine, it’s not really a recipe I follow; I just kind of throw it together.  But to give a bit of direction, put 2 cups of powdered sugar in a medium mixing bowl.  Start off with 1/4 cup of milk or heavy cream (I like heavy cream) and mix.  Keep adding liquid, 1 Tbsp. at a time, until you’ve achieved a consistency that you like (I like a rather thick one).

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Filed Under: Cakes

Simple Butter Almond Cake – Simply Wonderful!

June 3, 2010 Leave a Comment

Diva Entertains Almond Cake

One of the wonderful members of the recipe swap I belong to shared this recipe.  It’s from the Odense Website (Odense is a manufacturer of Almond Paste). And if this cake is any indication of the caliber of their recipes – trust me; you’ll be a frequent visitor to their site.

The cake is relatively easy to make.  I’m always a bit hesitate to use almond paste because, depending on the brand, it can be quite hard to crumble and incorporate into a recipe.  But Odense shares their secret that makes it incredibly easy: use a box grater to grate the almond paste.  Brilliant!  And so easy to do.

This recipe does not make the typical 2 to 3 layer American cake.  This is a one layer cake made in a cake pan (9″ works best) or a springform pan.  And although this cake is delicious all by itself, no frosting necessary, I like frosting on everything so I’ll include a recipe for it!

Almond Butter Cake (slightly adapted from the original recipe at www.odense.com)

  • 1 1/3 cups sugar
  • 1 7 oz. box Odense Almond Paste*
  • 10 Tbsp. (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 6 eggs, room temperature
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 tsp. baking power
  • 1/4 tsp. salt
  1. Pre-heat oven to 325 Fahrenheit and position rack in the middle of oven.  Spray cake pan with non-stick baking spray and line bottom of cake pan with parchment paper.
  2. Grate Almond paste on the large hole side of a box grater.  Add grated Almond paste and sugar to a mixing bowl.  Mix until combined into small crumbls.
  3. Add butter to Almond paste mixture and beat until light colored and creamy.
  4. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Then beat on high for 3 minutes, or until very light and fluffy.  Add vanilla and beat until combined.
  5. Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.  Add to  batter and stir just until incorporated.**
  6. Pour batter into prepared cake pan.  Bake for 55-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean.  Cool pan on wire rack for 15 minutes and unmold.  This is an extremely moist cake that will keep beautifully for one week if well wrapped.

Vanilla Glaze

  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 1/4 heavy (whipping) cream
  • 1/4 tsp. vanilla
  1. Put all ingredients in a small mixing bowl and mix until smooth.  Pour or drizzle on cake. (Or, if you are like me, try to pour the vast majority of it on the cake…I always end up eating a portion straight from the bowl :)

*Obviously use the almond paste of your choice.  Odense isn’t offered at my supermarket.

**Over-beating after adding the flour makes a cake ‘tough’; not a property you want in a cake.

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Filed Under: Cakes

New York Crumb Cake Recipe

May 10, 2010 Leave a Comment

Diva Entertains New York Crumb Cake

Everyone should have an easy yet delicious coffee cake recipe in their repertoire such as this New York Crumb Cake recipe.  A ‘New York ‘ crumb cake refers to a simple sour cream cake  topped with *lots* of cinnamon streusel.

This recipe comes together quickly. My only caution is about baking time.  This cake has a lovely, moist base but, like any cake, when left in the oven too long it quickly goes from moist to dry.  And nothing disappointments like a dry cake.  So start checking with a toothpick after 45 minutes.  Better to take the cake out with a few tiny crumbs sticking to the toothpick than over-baking it.

New York-Style Crumb Cake (adapted from Bon Appetit, April 2010)

Serves 12

Topping

  • 1 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted, warm
  • 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

Cake

  • 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 1/3 cups sour cream
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Topping:

  1. Melt butter in a large bowl.  Add both sugars, cinnamon and salt and stir to blend.
  2. Add flour and mix with fork until moist clumps form (mixture may look slightly wet).  Set aside.

Cake:

  1. Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F.  Spray a 13x9x2-inch baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.
  2. Using electric mixer, beat room-temperature butter in large bowl until smooth. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Then add eggs, 1 at a time, beating until well blended after each addition.
  3. Add sour cream and vanilla extract to batter until just incorporated.
  4. Mix flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a bowl.  Add mixture to batter in three additions, blending until just incorporated after each addition.
  5. Transfer cake batter to prepared baking dish; spread batter evenly with rubber spatula or offset spatula. Drop crumb topping over the batter by handfuls covering completely (topping will be thick).  Very gently pat the crumb into the cake so it adheres.
  6. Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs and topping is golden brown and slightly crisp, 45-1 hour (start checking at 45 minutes). Cool cake in dish on rack at least 30 minutes.

Can be made one day ahead.  Serve slightly warmed or at room temperature.

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Filed Under: Cakes
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