Pecan Pound Cake

1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
1 butter pecan cake mix
4 eggs
1 cup water
3/4 cup oil
1 can coconut pecan frosting

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray Bundt pan with non-stick spray. Evenly sprinkle pecans in the bottom of the pan. Mix cake mix, eggs, water and oil until smooth. Scoop in frosting and mix until blended. Pour into pan over pecans. Bake 60 minutes. Cook completely before slicing.

Italian Cream Sheet Cake

Italian Cream Sheet Cake

2 cups sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
5 eggs, separated
1 tsp. baking soda
1 cup buttermilk
2 cups cake flour
1 cup flaked coconut
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup chopped pecans

Icing
1 1/2 lbs. powdered sugar
1 pkg (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
milk to moisten (2 - 3 Tbl)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray a quarter sheet cake pan (14 x 10) with non-stick spray. Whip egg whites until stiff. In a large bowl cream sugar and butter. Add egg yolks one at a time beating after each addition. Dissolve baking soda in buttermilk. Add 1/2 buttermilk, 1/2 flour to butter/sugar/egg mix, beat well. Add remaining buttermilk and flour, beat well. Fold in coconut,vanilla egg whites and nuts. Pour into pan. Bake 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Icing:
Mix butter and cheese. Add sugar, vanilla and enough milk to moisten to a spreading
consistency. Ice completely cooked cake. I garnish with coconut and chopped pecans.

This recipe was sent to me by a friend. I made very few changes. One change I did make was using all butter and not butter and shortening which the original recipe called for. I also changed the cooking temperature to 325 degrees and baked it in a sheet pan. Reason? It makes a 3 layer cake and I don't have 3 cake pans of the same size. But this worked out great. I can't offer changes for this because it just wouldn't be an Italian Cream if I did. But if you want to make it into a 3 layer, raise the temperature to 350 degrees and use 3 pans of the same size baking for
about 25 - 30 minutes.

Donut Cupcakes

1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 cup sugar
1 pkg yellow cake mix (18.25 oz.)
1 Tbl. ground nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 24 mini muffin pan cups with non-stick spray. Combine cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl and set aside. Prepare cake mix according to package. Stir nutmeg into batter. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake about 12 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from pans and roll in cinnamon sugar until completely coated. Serve warm or at room temperature. Makes 24 mini cupcakes.

The nutmeg gives the cakes a donut flavor. Changes can be made by changing the spice or cake mix flavor. This would be good with chocolate cake instead of yellow.

Apple Coffee Cake

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 cup self rising flour
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 med. tart apples, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl cream butter and sugar. Beat in egg and vanilla. Add cinnamon to flour. Gradually add flour to mixture. Fold in apples and nuts. Pour into an 8 x 8 x 2 baking dish. Bake 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Serves 9

Changes - use pears instead of apples. Change the spices by using allspice, apple pie spice, pumpkin pie spice, or maybe cloves.

Four Layer Strawberry Filled Cake

1 pkg yellow cake mix
1/3 cup oil
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup milk
1/2 cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients and pour into 2 round cake pans. Bake 25-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely and split each layer making a total of 4 layers

Filling:
1 cup sugar
1 cup sour cream
1 cup strawberries

Mix sugar and sour cream until well blended. Fold in strawberries. Put 1/3 between each layer.

Frosting:
2 cans pre-made WHIPPED Vanilla frosting
4 oz. cream cheese softened

In a bowl, whip frosting and cream cheese until completely blended and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Frost cake. Garnish with strawberries.

Changes - Use WELL drained pineapple, blueberries or raspberries instead of strawberries. Add nuts to cake and/or frosting. Add my favorite, coconut to icing and/or filling.

Four Layer Strawberry Filled Cake

1 pkg yellow cake mix
1/3 cup oil
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup milk
1/2 cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients and pour into 2 round cake pans. Bake 25-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely and split each layer making a total of 4 layers

Filling:
1 cup sugar
1 cup sour cream
1 cup strawberries

Mix sugar and sour cream until well blended. Fold in strawberries. Put 1/3 between each layer.

Frosting:
2 cans pre-made WHIPPED Vanilla frosting
4 oz. cream cheese softened

In a bowl, whip frosting and cream cheese until completely blended and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Frost cake. Garnish with strawberries.

Changes - Use WELL drained pineapple, blueberries or raspberries instead of strawberries. Add nuts to cake and/or frosting. Add my favorite, coconut to icing and/or filling.

Carrot Cake Bars

2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups butter
4 eggs
3 cups self-rising flour
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2 cups shredded carrots
1 bottle (10 oz.) cherries, chopped
1/2 cup shredded pineapple, well drained
1 pkg (6 oz.) walnuts, chopped
1 cup shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat sugar and butter until smooth. Add eggs one at a time beating well after each addition. Add 1 cup flour, mix well, add another cup of flour, mix well, add last cup of flour and cinnamon mixing well. Stir in carrots, cherries, pineapple, walnuts and coconut. Pour into a bunt pan sprayed with non-stick spray and bake 1 hr & 15 min. or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. If the top starts browning too fast, loosely cover it with foil.

Changes - About the only thing I've been able to come up with for this cake is to slice it through the middle creating 2 layers and frost it with a cream cheese frosting. Other than that, it's perfect as it is.