Coconut Tres Leches Cake

-Mom

1 1/2 C flour + 1 tablespoon
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 C unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 C sugar
5 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract (1 1/2 tsp for cake--1/2 tsp for whipped cream)
1/2 tsp coconut extract (1/4 tsp for cake--1/4 tsp for whipped cream)
1 C half and half or cream
1 C sweetened condensed milk
1 C full-fat canned coconut milk

Whipped Cream: 2 C whipping cream, cold + 3-4 T powdered sugar
Garnish:  2 C toasted flaked coconut + maraschino cherries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  In a bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt.  Set aside.

In the bowl of your electric mixer, beat butter until smooth and creamy.  Add in sugar and beat on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 2-3 minutes, scraping down the sides as needed.  With the mixer on low speed add in each egg one at a time, mixing to combine and again scraping down sides.  Add in 1 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract and 1/4 tsp coconut extract, mixing until combined.  With the mixer on low, add dry ingredients in three increments, only mixing until just combined and no dry spots remain.  Pour into greased 9x13 inch pan and bake for 20-25 minutes.

While the cake is cooling, whisk together the coconut milk, half and half and condensed milk.

Once the cake has cooled, poke holes in it (make sure they go almost to the bottom) using a toothpick, skewer or fork.  Slowly spoon the milk mixture over top. If you have a turkey baster or meat injector, you can inject the cake with the milk. 

Refrigerate for at least 6 hours.

To frost:  In the bottom of your electric mixer, beat whipping cream until peaks form and it is stiff enough to use as frosting.  Mix in the rest of the vanilla and coconut extract and powdered sugar.  Place in the fridge until ready to use.  Once ready to frost, spoon on top of cake.  Then sprinkle with toasted coconut.  Best when refrigerated.

Cake Extender

-Tara Butler

1 c. flour

1/2 c. sugar

1/3 c. oil

1 egg

1/2 c. milk

Add to any cake mix in addition to ingredients already called for in the directions. This makes cakes taste more "homemade".

Strawberry Yogurt Cake

-Kathryn Lange

1 package super moist yellow cake mix

¾ C water

1/3 vegetable oil

3 egg whites

1 C strawberry yogurt

Topping:

12 oz whipped topping

4oz cream cheese

1 1/2 C strawberry yogurt

1 package fresh strawberries, sliced

Beat cake mix, water, oil, egg whites and yogurt. Bake at 350° 30-05 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. In a large bowl blend whip topping, cream cheese and yogurt. In a separate bowl, mix 1 T sugar and strawberries. Frost cake and top off with strawberries. This cake is best served cold. I like to leave it in the refrigerator for a few hours before serving.

Pumpkin Cake

-Tara Butler

1 2/3 C. Sugar

4 Eggs

1 C. Oil

2 C. Pumpkin (1 can)

2 C. Flour

2 tsp. Baking Powder

1 tsp. Baking Soda

1 tsp. Salt

1 tsp. Cinnamon

Blend sugar, eggs and oil. Add pumpkin and mix. In separate bowl mix dry ingredients – add to mixture. Don’t grease pan – put in cookie sheet. Bake 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes. (most go 30 minutes)

When cool frost with Cream Cheese Frosting:

3 oz. Cream Cheese softened.

1 tsp. Vanilla

1 Cube Butter

2 C. Powdered Sugar

Beat until fluffy.

Popcorn Cake

1 cube of butter
1 pkg. large marshmallows
4 qts. popped popcorn
1 c. unsalted peanuts
1 c. small gumdrops or dots

Melt butter and marshmallows. Pour over popcorn and candy ingredients. Mix well. Pour into greased pan, let cool and dump out. For this cake we added large gumdrops cut in half for more decoration.
Do you remember making these for all of the neighbors for Christmas? We'd dye the marshmallow creme green and use a bundt pan to make it look like a popcorn wreath. Then we added red M& M's or red gumdrops for the berries.