Gourmet Food on a Budget
Everything from candy, cupcakes, cake, and pies. We love sweets!
This German Chocolate Velvet Cake really is the ultimate chocolate cake. It has the velvety texture of Red Velvet cake, deep dark chocolate flavor, mocha frosting, and coconut-pecan filling and topping. Even people who don’t like chocolate cake, or who don’t like coconut love this cake.
I grew up with and loved my grandmother’s famous Glazed Lemon Jello cake. The Jello in the cake makes it moist and stays that way. This cake won’t dry up if you leave it on your plate for a moment or two.
This Halloween Pumpkin Fortress Cake is stuffed with cream cheese and has red food coloring. With decorations, it’s meant to be a “scary” treat for the season. Wafting with pumpkin spice, the cake has an espresso glaze to remind you of a good coffee house cake. Surprisingly, it’s a pretty simple cake to make.
This is probably my favorite winter dessert. I look forward to the end of hot summer days when I can turn on my oven and make Apple Brown Betty. It’s an old recipe, first published in 1864. I’ve been making it since 2011 when I won an award for it. I love the fact that it’s very simple to make and with the help of some tools, in the oven in under 10 minutes.
Sometimes, you wake up in the morning, and you want something really tasty. These Chocolate Praline Scones look like they took a while to make, but they come together in a jiffy. You can have them for breakfast, and if you don’t eat them all, have them for dessert with a little ice cream.
Fresh Strawberry Sheet Cake will never, ever get old. It’s a very simple cake to make and my goto white cake. Topping it with strawberries and whipped cream makes it a great summer cake that can feed a crowd.
These ricotta-stuffed dessert crepes will remind you of cannoli. Flavored with rose water, mixed with chocolate chips and walnuts they are sure to delight.
For years, I have been thinking about making a gingerbread house. When I was growing up in Germany, the bakery downstairs had an amazing nativity set in their display window. All people and animals were made from marzipan, the buildings were made of gingerbread, and the snow was spun sugar. It must have taken them days to make it all. My mother would get me a marzipan apple if I was really good.
A few years ago, at a garage sale, I found a castle shaped Nordicware bundt pan. It languished on my shelf until I had the brilliant idea to use it to make a gingerbread cake. There is no need to assemble anything, so no need to make royal icing. Piped buttercream works perfectly. This cake tastes better if it can sit for a day without being disturbed.
Christmas gifts from the kitchen are wonderful to give to your friends, neighbors, family, and co-workers. Yes, it takes a little of your time, but the recipients will love it because it shows that you spent time and effort making the gift. It’s also great to have on hand if unexpected guests arrive, they can always go home with one of your homemade gifts.
This coconut pineapple upside-down cake is a real show-stopper. This one has pineapple juice in the batter so it is nice and moist with great flavor.