Raspberry Cake Brownies

These are not cake. Not brownie. They're cake brownies! I say that because when you taste them, you aren't really sure what they are or how to describe them to others. The texture is somewhere in between.

What's fun in these bars is that you mix in raspberry jam. So the berry flavor is throughout, not just a layer on top or in the middle, and not just pieces of fruit folded in. The crunch comes from adding chocolate chips.

They're easy to make and you most likely have all these most basic baking ingredients on hand already. Do you eat toast with jam? Perfect! Then you already have jam, too!

I'm sure I've mentioned before but just in case, Marlene Sorosky is one of the best recipe authors on Planet Earth and if I share one of her recipes with you, the most appropriate reaction on your part should be that of gratitude and giddiness. So go on, react.


Raspberry Cake Brownies
Recipe by Marlene Sorosky in Easy Entertaining with Marlene Sorosky

2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1/4 pound (1 stick) butter or margarine, cut into 8 pieces
2 eggs
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam (I strained jam with seeds)
2 tsp kirsch, Chambord or framboise, optional
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt, or to taste
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Confectioners sugar for dusting the top, optional

Line an 8- or 9-inch square pan with a sheet of foil, letting it extend 1 inch over the sides; butter the foil. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a medium saucepan over low heat or in a medium microwave-safe bowl, melt unsweetened chocolate and butter or margarine, stirring until smooth; cool slightly. Whisk eggs in. Whisk in sugar, jam and liqueur, if using. Stir in flour, salt, baking powder and chocolate chips until incorporated. The mixture will be thin. Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the top springs back when lightly pressed with fingertips. Let cool in pan 5 minutes; lift foil out of pan and cool completely.

The cake may be wrapped and held at room temperature for up to 3 days or frozen.

Before serving, cut into squares, approximately 1 1/2 inches each. Dust the tops lightly with confectioners sugar, if desired.

Makes 25 squares.


Step-by-Step in Pictures

In a medium saucepan, melt unsweetened chocolate and butter, then whisk in the eggs...

Then whisk in the sugar, jam, and liqueur (optional)...

Stir until smooth...

Stir in the flour, salt, and baking powder...

Stir in the chocolate chips...

Spread the batter into a greased, foil-lined baking pan...

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes...

Cut into squares to serve...

Peach Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

What a happy cake. It's unintimidating and friendly and colorful. You can make it all year round because it uses canned peaches instead of fresh (though fresh will work, too). It's got a beautiful cross section with bright spots of yellow peaches peek-a-booing out. And cream cheese frosting is always a hit with guests. Author Melissa Gray is my new best friend!

I made this cake in my mom's kitchen, and one of many special things about that (aside from the obvious - being in the company of my mother, which is always a treat), was that I was able to use my grandmother's tube pan to bake the cake. My mom has a lot of her mom's baking equipment. I never had a chance to meet my grandmother, but getting to use the exact same items she once used makes me feel like she's in the room with me. I know that she and I would have been great friends.

My grandmother was an avid baker, just like my mom and me. Baking must be hereditary. And Bubbe, this cake's for you!


Peach Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Recipe by Melissa Gray in All Cakes Considered

For the cake
3 large eggs, beaten
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 cups sliced peaches, preferably canned
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

For the frosting
3 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

To make the cake
1. Center a rack and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Prepare the cake pan by lining the bottom of a 10-inch tube pan with parchment paper and spraying the sides and bottom with baking spray.

2. In the bowl of a mixer, combine the eggs, sugar, and oil. Mix on medium speed until just blended.

3. In a separate bowl, dry whisk the flour, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon together. Add to the egg mixture and beat until just combined. The batter will be sticky.

4. With a spatula and/or wooden spoon, fold in the peaches and nuts.

5. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake for 50 minutes, or until the cake tests done.

6. Let the cake cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then unmold onto a cake rack. Allow to cool completely.

To make the frosting
7. With the mixer on medium speed, beat the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla extract until smooth.

8. Gradually add the confectioners’ sugar and ginger. Beat until smooth.

9. Apply the frosting to the cooled cake.


Step-by-Step in Pictures

Grease and flour a 10-cup tube pan (this exact one was my grandmother's!)...

Combine the dry ingredients and set aside...
Mix the eggs, sugar, and oil...
Add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture...
The batter will be sticky and light brown colored...
Drain the peaches (if canned, they come with syrup you'll need to discard) and slice each one in half if you want smaller pieces...
Add the peaches and nuts to the batter...

Fold them in to incorporate but don't overmix...

Pour batter into the prepared baking pan...

Bake at 375 degrees F for about 50 minutes...

Let cool completely...

To make the frosting, beat together the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla...

Add the confectioners' sugar and ginger...

Mix until of spreading consistency...

Spread the frosting on the cake, garnish with nuts if desired, slice and serve!

Cinnamon-Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting

I know there was reportedly a pumpkin shortage this holiday season, but in my house, you wouldn't have known it! When I decided to make these bars, I didn't need to go to the store to buy pumpkin. I had 3 cans sitting in my pantry. I'm that way about a lot of things. I don't let my ingredients get depleted. It's the girl scout at heart in me, despite never actually having done Girl Scouts. Nothing is worse than being mid-recipe and running out of something, or being in the mood to bake, but having to go to the store because you don't already have the ingredients in stock. Even as my flour bin is half full, I already have another unopened bag ready to go. Same with sugar. Same with peanut butter. Same with pumpkin. I used up part of one can on this recipe, which means I've still got at least two more baked goods to make before the holidays are over. That won't be difficult.

These bars are a moist cake, not too tall, though I suppose if you baked them in a smaller pan for a little longer, you could have taller bars. The cream cheese frosting is a nice addition. I don't normally make cream cheese frosting because it's fattening, but it was such a thin layer spread on the bars that I was willing, and it really did make a difference. I served these at a potluck dinner, and then brought the leftovers to work. They were a hit with everyone!


Cinnamon-Pumpkin Bars
Recipe by Beatrice Ojakangas in Light and Easy Baking

1 cup canned pumpkin
1 large egg
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup nonfat sour cream
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Cream Cheese Frosting
4 ounces fat-free cream cheese, at room temperature
1 3/4 cups confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly coat a 13 x 9 inch pan with nonstick spray. Line the bottom with wax paper or parchment paper and spray again.

In a large bowl, stir together the pumpkin, egg, sugar, oil, and sour cream. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon and mix until well blended. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the top springs back when lightly touched. Place the pan on a wire rack to cool.

In a small bowl, beat the cream cheese and add the confectioners' sugar and vanilla. Beat until smooth. When the bars are cooled, spread with the frosting. Cut into bars to serve.

Makes 24 bars.


Step-by-Step in Pictures

Combine pumpkin, egg, sugar, oil, and sour cream...

Stir until well blended...

Combine the dry ingredients together in a bowl...

Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture...

Pour into a greased 9x13-inch pan and bake in a 350 degree F oven for 25-30 minutes...

Prepare the frosting by mixing together the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla...

Spread the frosting over the completely cooled pumpkin bars using an offset spatula...

This is what I'm talking about!

State Fair Marbled Banana Bars

This recipe won top honors at the State Fair of West Virginia in Lewisburg. That's good enough for me as an indicator of deliciousness. I'm picturing a judging panel line-up of old ladies with beehive hairdos and men with bow ties and thick dark-rimmed glasses. I'm sure that's not how it is today, but I prefer that image.


I've made a lot of banana desserts, but this might be the first time I've marbled banana with chocolate. Come to think of it now, it's such a natural thing to do because banana is light in color and works perfectly to contrast the dark color of chocolate. More recipes should suggest this!! The resulting bar not only looks good, but it's a yummy, moist cake, pretty light and airy, and (watch out), could take eating almost the entire tray before you got full. I don't know this from experience, I swear. Hypothetically speaking, of course. Wink Wink.


Marbled Banana Bars
Recipe from Blue Ribbon USA: Prizewinning Recipes From State and County Fairs by Georgia Orcutt and John Margolies.

1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 4)
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
Confectioners' sugar for dusting (optional)

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x13-inch baking pan. Combine the sugar and butter in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer on medium speed, scraping the bowl several times, until light and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the bananas, egg, and vanilla and continue beating and scraping the bowl until well mixed, 1 to 2 minutes longer. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl and stir with a whisk to blend. Add to the banana mixture and beat on low speed for 1 to 2 minutes, scraping the bowl several times, until the batter is well mixed.

Measure out 1 1/2 cups of the batter and drop it by spoonfuls into the prepared pan, leaving a few spaces. Add the cocoa to the remaining batter in the bowl and beat on low speed for about 30 seconds, or until well mixed. Drop the chocolate batter by spoonfuls into the pan over and around the banana batter. Using a knife, swirl the chocolate batter through the banana batter to make a marbleized pattern. (Do not overswirl.) Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely in the pan. Just before serving, dust with confectioners' sugar, if desired. Cut into bars.

Makes about 36 bars.


Step-by-Step in Pictures
Prepare the batter...

Take 1 1/2 cups of the batter out of the bowl...

Drop spoonfuls of that 1 1/2 cups of batter into the baking pan...

To the remaining batter in the bowl, add cocoa powder...
This becomes the chocolate (and dark colored) batter, perfect for marbling...

Drop the chocolate batter by spoonfuls around the yellow batter...

Marbleize the two colors by dragging a knife back and forth across the pan until you have your desired design...

Bake at 350 degrees F for about 25 minutes...

Voila!

Pumpkin Cheesecake, or The Cheesecake That Almost Burned Down My Home

This Paula Deen pumpkin cheesecake is so good. It's creamy and dense and pumpkiny and has a delicious graham cracker crust and is basically everything I'm looking for in an excellent dessert. It's also the recipe that almost burned down my kitchen, and perhaps my entire place. Now that's no fault of Paula Deen's. I was a fool!

When I started this baking project, I was really exhausted. That's mistake number 1. But the specific problem that led to such a close call was that I didn't put the springform pan on a baking sheet when it came time to bake the cheesecake. I put the pan directly onto the oven shelf and set the timer. Mere minutes after it was in the oven, me sitting happily and unaware in the living room trying to catch up on my DVR, I suddenly looked up and saw smoke everywhere. And I mean EVERYWHERE.

What had happened??? I panicked and ran to the kitchen, turned on the oven light, but did not want to open the oven door so I wouldn't release any heat; the cheesecake's structure was still setting. (Looking back, I can't believe I put my cheesecake before the welfare of my home and myself! Ha!) But when I didn't see anything unusual through the glass window of the oven door, I decided I would have to open it up. Sure enough, liquid from the cheesecake was dripping through the cracks in the springform pan and onto the bottom of the oven, creating smoke that the oven's tiny ventilation could not handle. My kitchen was a giant cloud. The smoke alarm went off and in my exhaustion, I thought, OH NO, that's the fire alarm! The firemen are coming! This is embarrassing! And my cheesecake is ruined!


I ran next door to get my neighbor and he helped me turn off the smoke alarm, we opened all the windows, put fans at the windows facing outward to pull the smoke out, and my neighbor bravely stuck his hand in my oven and cleaned the bottom of it with a rag so it would stop producing smoke.

Everything is fine now. The firemen didn't come. My place is not a pile of ashes. I'm safe. The cheesecake was not compromised by having the oven door open for so long to clean the bottom. And I learned a very big lesson about putting springform pans on baking sheets.

This is a cheesecake I'll never forget. But I swear, its incredible, rich taste is memorable, too!


Pumpkin Cheesecake
Recipe by Paula Deen on the Fall Harvest episode of the TV show "Paula's Home Cooking"

Crust
1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
3 tablespoons light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 stick melted salted butter

Filling
3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, at room temperature
1 (15-ounce) can pureed pumpkin
3 eggs plus 1 egg yolk
1/4 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

For crust:
In medium bowl, combine crumbs, sugar and cinnamon. Add melted butter. Press down flat into a 9-inch springform pan. Set aside.

For filling:
Beat cream cheese until smooth. Add pumpkin puree, eggs, egg yolk, sour cream, sugar and the spices. Add flour and vanilla. Beat together until well combined.

Pour into crust. Spread out evenly and place oven for 1 hour. Remove from the oven and let sit for 15 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours.

Step-by-Step in Pictures

To make the crust, combine the graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon...

Press together to form a crust...

Press the mixture into the bottom of the springform pan (I also pressed the mixture about 1 inch up the sides of the pan...

Your crust is ready to go!

Beat the cream cheese until smooth...

Add pumpkin, eggs, sour cream...

Then add sugar and spices...

Then add flour and vanilla...

Pour the batter over the crust in the pan...

Bake at 350 degrees F for about an hour...

Let cool in the pan, then unlock and release the springform pan sides...

Chill before serving. Yum!