Nectarine Upside-Down Cake

Nectarine Upside-Down Cake

**Susan's note: I adapted this Martha Stewart recipe. It called for rhubarb, but I am not a big fan, so I used nectarines instead! I love nectarines. I didn't peel them, just sliced them, and you don't need to dot the pan with the 4 TBS butter called for in the recipe. Just lightly butter the pan. And you don't need as much sugar - maybe 1/2 cup - to toss over the nectarines.

This cake has a crumb "topping" that actually ends up on the bottom. Each bite has a surprisingly crunchy texture.

Prep: 25 minutes
Total: 2 hours 15 minutes

Ingredients

Makes one 9-inch cake; Serves 10
FOR THE TOPPING
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
Coarse salt
FOR THE CAKE
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for buttering pan
1 pound rhubarb, trimmed and cut on a very sharp diagonal about 1/2 inch thick
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
Coarse salt
1/2 teaspoon finely grated orange zest plus 1 tablespoon fresh orange juice
2 large eggs
1 cup sour cream
Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Make the topping: Stir together butter, flour, sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon salt until moist and crumbly.
Make the cake: Butter a 9-inch round cake pan (2 inches deep). Dot with 4 tablespoons butter (cut into pieces). Toss rhubarb with 3/4 cup sugar; let stand for 2 minutes. Toss again, and spread in pan.
Whisk together flour, baking powder, and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt. Beat remaining stick butter and cup sugar with a mixer on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Beat in zest and juice. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time, until incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl. Beat in flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with sour cream, until smooth. Spread evenly over rhubarb. Crumble topping evenly over batter.
Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and top springs back when touched, about 1 hour. Let cool for 10 minutes. Run a knife around edge of cake, and invert onto a wire rack. Let cool completely.
From Martha Stewart Living, May 2010


Let the cake cool for 10 minutes before removing it from the pan. The rhubarb will be too hot to handle safely right after baking. But if the cake sits much longer, it may stick.

Flourless Chocolate Cake

Flourless Chocolate Cake

***Susan's Note: Not for the weak of heart! I first had this when I worked at IU in 2005. John Scully of the Registrar's office brought it in. Wow.

Chocolate lovers will adore this dessert. The edges and top develop a delicately crisp crust while the center remains moist and fudgy.

Prep: 20 minutes
Total: 1 hour 10 minutes
Ingredients

Serves 8

* 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for pan
* 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (or 8 ounces chopped bittersweet chocolate)
* 6 large egg yolks
* 6 large egg whites
* 1/2 cup granulated sugar
* Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 275 degrees; with rack in center. Butter a 9-inch springform pan. Place butter and chocolate in a large bowl. Microwave in 30-second increments, stirring each time, until melted; cool slightly. Whisk in yolks.
2. In another bowl, beat egg whites to soft peaks. Gradually add sugar; beat until stiff and glossy. Whisk 1/4 of whites into chocolate mixture; gently fold mixture into remaining whites.
3. Pour into prepared pan; smooth top. Bake until cake pulls away from sides of pan and is just set in center, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack. Serve dusted with confectioners' sugar.

Lemonade Pudding Cake

Lemonade Pudding Cake

**Susan's Note: This was pretty yummy! A way to use some lemonade mix I had left from this summer.

Prep Time:
30 min
Total Time:
1 hr 25 min
Makes:
16 servings

Ingredients
1 pkg. (2-layer size) yellow cake mix
1 pkg. (4-serving size) JELL-O Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding
1/2 cup COUNTRY TIME Lemonade Flavor Drink Mix, divided
1 cup cold water
4 eggs
1/4 cup oil
3 Tbsp. warm water
1 cup powdered sugar


PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Mix cake mix, pudding mix, 1/4 cup of the drink mix, 1 cup water, eggs and oil in large bowl. Beat with electric mixer on low speed 1 minute. Beat on medium speed 4 minutes. Pour into greased and floured 12-cup fluted tube pan.

BAKE 50 to 55 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 5 minutes; remove from pan. Invert onto serving platter.

DISSOLVE remaining 1/4 cup drink mix in 3 Tbsp. warm water in medium bowl. Stir in powdered sugar with wire whisk until well blended.

PIERCE warm cake at 1-inch intervals with fork or skewer completely through to bottom of cake. Gradually spoon powdered sugar glaze over cake; let stand until glaze is completely absorbed.



Nutrition Infomation
Calories
270
Total fat
8 g
Saturated fat
1.5 g
Cholesterol
55 mg
Sodium
330 mg
Carbohydrate
45 g
Dietary fiber
0 g
Sugars
33 g
Protein
3 g
Vitamin A
0 %DV
Vitamin C
6 %DV
Calcium
6 %DV
Iron
4 %DV

Mom's Jewish Catholic Apple Cake

4-5 macintosh apples; peeled cored and sliced (or cubed)
2 teaspoon cinnamon
5 tablespoon sugar
3 cup flour; sifted
2 cup sugar; separated
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1/4 cup orange juice
3 teaspoon baking powder
2 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped walnuts; (optional)

Cooking Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Combine cinnamon and 5 tablespoons sugar and sprinkle over apples; set aside. Combine and beat remaining ingredients (except walnuts) in large bowl until smooth. Stir in walnuts. Pour 1/2 batter into a well greased 10-inch tube pan. Arrange 1/2 of apple mixture over it. Pour in the rest of batter and arrange the rest of the apples on top of the batter. Bake at 350^ for 1 1/2 hours. Allow cake to cool in an upright position. May be frozen for future use.

NOTE: if apples look small then use 5 instead of 4!

Blueberry Sour Cream Coffee Cake

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Blueberry-Sour-Cream-Coffee-Cake/Detail.aspx

Blueberry Sour Cream Coffee Cake
Submitted by: d carmichael/newman
Rated: 5 out of 5 by 211 members Prep Time: 20 Minutes
Cook Time: 1 Hour Ready In: 1 Hour 20 Minutes
Yields: 12 servings
"One really delicious and really unhealthy Sunday coffee cake. I have no idea where I got this recipe from but it was about thirty years ago and has been a family favorite since. The bake time is a bit longer if you're using frozen berries."
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 5/8 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup fresh or frozen
blueberries

1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 tablespoon confectioners'
sugar for dusting
DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9 inch Bundt pan.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the sour cream and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt; stir into the batter just until blended. Fold in blueberries.
3. Spoon half of the batter into the prepared pan. In a small bowl, stir together the brown sugar, cinnamon and pecans. Sprinkle half of this mixture over the batter in the pan. Spoon remaining batter over the top, and then sprinkle the remaining pecan mixture over. Use a knife or thin spatula to swirl the sugar layer into the cake.
4. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a knife inserted into the crown of the cake comes out clean. Cool in the pan over a wire rack. Invert onto a serving plate, and tap firmly to remove from the pan. Dust with confectioners' sugar just before serving.