Cakes For Your Sweetheart

Sweets are great! Cakes are sweet, delectable treats. Lately, I have been trying to make my sweets without using items with preservatives or words I cannot pronounce. Minus the Caramel Cracker Bars of course. Believe it or not, since I started eating things with little or no preservatives I have lost 10 pounds, 5 of that finds me once in a while and then leaves again. So when I have wanted a sweet treat I use recipes with all fresh ingredients. The first recipe is a cake from scratch and my Sweetheart likes this cake and he doesn't even like sweets. The second is a cake from two boxes.

Robby's Orange Cake

(He has talked about this orange cake for years, we tried to get the recipe with no success... so I made one up with help from a regular white cake recipe)

2 cups unbleached flour

2 cups sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 cup butter softened

2 eggs

1 cup fresh orange juice

1 tsp. vanilla

1 orange peeled, chopped and skinned

1/4 tsp. zest from the orange for glaze

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine dry ingredients in the bowl of your stand mixer. Add orange juice and mix. Add butter and mix. Add eggs mixing between each addition. Add vanilla. Mix until batter is smooth. Add orange pieces and on low speed blend together.

Pour cake batter into a greased cake pan/s. Bake for 30-45 or until toothpick comes out clean.

While your Orange cake is baking and making your house smell amazing, make this glaze. It is very sweet but perfect with the orange cake.

1 1/2 cup powdered sugar

2 tbsp butter

1/4 cup fresh orange juice

orange zest saved from above ingredients for cake

Stir together. If you would like a thicker glaze add more powdered sugar, or if you want a thinner glaze add more fresh orange juice.

Remove cake from oven. Allow to cool. Poke some holes in the cake with a wooden skewer and frost with the glaze. Cut, serve and enjoy. You can serve this cake if you'd like with a little vanilla bean ice cream.

Jamie's Spiced Chocolate Bundt Cake

One box Betty Crocker Dark Chocolate Cake Mix

one small box Jello Pumpkin Spice Pudding

1/2 cup HOT water

1/2 cup canola oil

4 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1 cup sour cream

1/2 bag of miniature semi-sweet chocolate chips

Cinamon Sugar (C&H makes one in a cute little bottle, it's awesome)

Preaheat your oven to 350 degrees. In the bowl of stand mixer combine dry ingredients. Blend the cake and dry pudding mix together. Carefully add HOT water and mix. Add the canola oil and mix. Add an egg, one by one, mixing after each addition. Add vanilla and cinnamon and mix. Add sour cream and mix until all is blended smooth. Add the mini chocolate chips and mix on low until they are mixed in a bit.

Spray the bottom of your bundt pan with non stick cooking spray. Spray the bundt pan generously with the spray. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar on the bottom of pan. Spoon cake batter which will be thick into the pan. Level cake batter with the back of spoon when all batter is in the pan. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Check with toothpick.

Make a glaze out of powdered sugar, vanilla extract and a little water. A thin glaze is great for this cake. Once cake has cooled, sprinkle top of cake with cinnamon sugar and then drizzle with glaze. Sprinkle more cinnamon sugar on top of glaze.