Try it Tuesday- Flag Cake

I remember as a child looking at the magazine covers in the grocery store checkout line. They always had the most delicious looking food on them. There were fun cookies, decadent pastries, and fabulous cakes. My favorite was not the scary Halloween cookies or the fruit pies but the Fourth of July flag cake. I loved this cake, I obsessed about this cake. I had dreams that one day my mom would surprise me and make the cake for me.

I finally made this cake seven years ago. I was so excited. I finally made my cake and it was fabulous. I make it every year now some years I use strawberries, other years I add coconut. But it is my dream cake, the cake I loved in my childhood and one that now my kids look forward to every year.

It is as simple as it looks. Make a white cake, top it with whip cream, and then  develop a flag with fruit. It is a fabulous Fourth of July treat.

Recipe- Fresh strawberry cake

For his birthday James asked for a strawberry cake. So I whipped up this little baby-

I know that it looks like a five year old's birthday cake but you can make it look nice by using rounds and filling it with the puree.


It was pretty simple for a "from scratch" cake and it was delicious.

Ingredients

• 24 oz  frozen  or fresh strawberries, hulled (if frozen, thawed)
• 2 tsp sugar 
• 1/4 cup milk, at room temperature
• 6 large egg whites, room temperature 
• 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 cup flour, sifted
• 1 3/4 cup sugar
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 12 Tbsp unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), softened 

Instructions

1. Slice the strawberries and toss with 2 tsps of sugar. Let them sit for a couple hours. 
2. Puree strawberries in a food processor or blender and puree.
3. Reserve cup puree for the cake. 
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare pan.
5. In small bowl, combine puree, milk, egg, vanilla and mix with fork until well blended.
6.  In bowl of stand mixer, add sifted flour, sugar, baking powder and salt and mix to combine. Continue beating at slow speed and add butter. Mix until combined and resembling moist crumbs.
7. Add liquids and beat at medium speed for about 1 minute or until full and evenly combined. 
8. Bake for about 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (time will vary).

I used the left over puree in the whip cream frosting and it was fabulous.  

Recipe- Pina Colada Cake

Every year since I came home from my mission my family and I have celebrated Three Kings Day. I make traditional Puertorican dishes and then the Three Kings visit and leave presents in our shoes. This year instead of making flan for dessert I went another way with a Pina Colada cake. I never had this in PR so it probably isn't Puertorican but I figured the flavors were close enough to count.

This was the best looking cake I ever made. It was sweet and decadent and everyone enjoyed it- even my 7 year old who claims she prefers only natural sugars. So here it is the recipe-

1 box yellow cake mix
1 box instant vanilla pudding & pie filling mix
1/2 can Cream of Coconut
1/2 cup pineapple juice (you can also make this a tad more adult and use Rum)
1/3 cup cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1 can crushed pineapple, well drained

Preheat oven to 350º. In a large mixing bowl, combine cake mix, pudding mix, ½ the coconut cream, pineapple juice, oil, and eggs. Beat on medium speed for about 2 minutes. Stir in the drained pineapple. Pour into a well greased and floured 10-inch bundt pan. Bake for 50. Cool slightly.

Topping-

1/2 cup pineapple juice

1/2 can of Cream of Coconut

1 box of vanilla pudding

Mix and set aside. After flipping the cake and cooling slightly spread on the top of the cake covering all areas. Then top with maraschino cherries and pineapple slices. Chill.

Recipe- Apple Cake

For her birthday last month Eve declared she wanted an apple cake. I asked her if she had an apple cake before and she said no. I scoured the internet for a recipe and found a few but nothing seemed that it would be a good birthday cake. Eventually Eve decided that she would rather have an apple pie which was easier to manage.

Then last week I attended a Relief Society dinner and the dessert was an apple cake. I was there alone with the baby and was leaning towards heading home but I stayed to try this dessert and I was so glad that I did.

I have made it twice since then. It has been a hit with everyone and I have to say I could just eat the sauce by the spoonful.

So here it is the Apple cake-

Mix together-

2 cups of sugar

2 cups of flour

1 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

Then add-

4 cups of peeled and grated apples ( I found this was about four medium apples)

1/2 cup oil (you can substitute applesauce for this one too)

2 eggs well beaten

2 tsp vanilla

Pour into a greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-60 minutes.

For the sauce-

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup butter or margarine

1/2 cup half and half

1 Tbsp of flour

1tsp vanilla

Stir constantly and bring to a boil. Let cook for two minutes.

For me the longest and hardest part of this was peeling and grating the apples. That took about 40 minutes after that it took 10 minutes to put together.