Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Fruity Desserts: Blueberry Cream Cheese Pound Cake, Triple Strawberry Cupcakes, and Old Fashioned Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

Decided to go with a fruit theme for this entry since it seems to be the theme of all my latest desserts. Everyone pretty much loved all of these desserts so enjoy!

Old Fashioned Pineapple Upside-Down Cake (from allrecipes.com)















4 eggs
1/2 cup butter
 1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 (20 oz) can sliced pineapple
10 maraschino cherries, halved
1 cup sifted cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1 teaspoon almond extract

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a 10-inch cast iron skillet, melt 1/2 cup butter over very low heat. Remove from heat and sprinkle brown sugar evenly over pan. Arrange pinapple slices to cover bottom of skillet. Distrubute cherries in centers of pinapples and around them if desired; set aside. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. Separate the eggs into two bowls. In a large bowl, beat eggs whites just until soft peaks form. Add granulated sugar gradually, beating well after each addition until stiff peaks form. In a small bowl, beat egg yolks at high speed until very thick and yellow. With a wire whisk or rubber spatula, using an over-and-under motion, gently fold egg yolks and flour mixture into whites until blended. Fold in 1 tablespoon of melted butter and almond extract. Spread batter evenly over the pinapple in the skillet. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until surface springs back when gently pressed with fingertip. Loosen the edges of the cake with a table knife. Cool cake in the skillet for 5 minutes before inverting it onto a serving plate. Good served warm or at room temperature.

Triple Strawberry Cupcakes
1 package yellow cake mix
1 package (3 oz) strawberry Jello mix
1 cup finely chopped fresh strawberries
3/4 cup of milk
3/4 cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 24 cupcake cups with paper liners; set aside. Place the cake mix, Jello mix, strawberries, milk, oil, and eggs into a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds. Stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Continue mixing on low speed for 2 minutes more. Fill the cupcake cups 3/4 of the way full and place pans in the oven. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until cupcakes are lightly golden brown around edges and spring back when lightly touched. Let cupcakes cool in pans for 5 minutes and them remove them to wire racks to cool completely. Frost with Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting.

Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
3-3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup very finely chopped strawberries
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Blend together the cream cheese and butter using an electric mixer until combined. Add 3 cups powdered sugar,strawberries, and vanilla blending until well incorporated. Turn mixer up to medium speed and blend until fluffy. Can add additional 1/2 cup of sugar for desired spreading consistency.

*this is not the exact frosting recipe I used but I kinda created mine and have no idea of the proportions; this one looks pretty close and I'm going to test it later this week and will update if I make any changes*

Blueberry Cream Cheese Pound Cake (from Food.com)















8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups butter
3 cups granulated sugar
6 eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Zest from 2 lemons
Juice from 1 lemon
2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

Cream together the cream cheese, butter, and sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Add the flour, 1 cup at a time, beating well after each. Add vanilla, lemon juice, and lemon zest, beat well. Fold in the blueberries. Pour the batter into a greased and floured bundt pan (or spray with Baker's Joy). Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, and then turn the temperature down to 325 degrees and bake for another 55 minutes or until a cake tested comes out clean. If cake begins to brown too much on top before it is baked through, lightly cover the pan with aluminum foil. This will prevent further browning and allow the cake to get done in the center.

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