Recipe: Grand Old Flag Cake
I love seeing this cake every year in all the magazines for their patriotic issues (Memorial & Independence Day). This recipe comes from an old issue of All You and you can check for the nutrition on the website. You can also use change the ingredients and flavors around, or boxed/premade/gluten-free/etc. cake and frosting – totally up to you!
Ingredients:
Chocolate cake:
- Cooking spray
- 1 3/4 cups flour
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 sticks (6 oz.) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cream-cheese frosting:
- 2 (8 oz.) packages cream cheese, softened
- 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
- 2 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
- 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 pint blueberries
- 1 1/2 pints raspberries
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line length of 13×9-inch cake pan with parchment paper, and leave a 4-inch overhang. Lay another sheet across width of pan and up sides (without the overhang). Spray paper evenly with the cooking spray.
- To make cake: Whisk together flour, granulated sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat in butter on low speed until mixture is crumbly. Add buttermilk, eggs and vanilla. Increase speed to medium and beat, scraping down inside of bowl, until smooth, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to baking pan.
- Bake cake until a cake tester inserted in center comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Cool in pan on a rack for 10 minutes. Holding overhanging pieces of paper, pull cake from pan and let cool completely on rack. Invert platter on cake and flip over to invert cake. Carefully peel off paper and discard.
- Make frosting: Using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese and butter on medium speed until light. Gradually beat in confectioners’ sugar until fluffy. Beat in the lemon juice. Refrigerate frosting for about 10 minutes if it’s too soft to spread.
- Frost sides and top of cake. Arrange blueberries in a rectangle in upper left-hand corner of cake. Arrange raspberries in 7 rows for stripes. Refrigerate cake until serving. (Cake can be made up to 3 hours ahead.)
DIY Freeze Pop Cozies Lightsabers
Feel the force with these adorable felt cozies to keep your little ones’ hands warm and clean(ish) while they are enjoying their freeze pops this summer with this quick tutorial from Family Fun. Instructions are for 1 cozy, and they’re very simple, so just repeat with as many as you’d like to make!
- Cut a 3″x4″ rectangle from gray felt.
- Fold it over a freeze pop and use fabric glue to seal the side and bottom edges.
- Clamp the fabric closed with binder clips or clothes pins (optional, but gives a stronger hold to the glue).
- Slip the felt off the pop.
- Glue on stripes and dots of black and colored felt (or use fabric paint if you want it even simpler!).
- Allow to dry fully, then you’re able to battle the dark side! Enjoy!
Recipe: No Bake Oreo Ice Cream Cake
Summer is here and that means it’s ICE CREAM SEASON! (In my house, that’s year round, honestly, haha!) Skip buying a $30 ice cream cake for family gatherings and parties and make this super simple and inexpensive No Bake Oreo Ice Cream Cake instead!
Ingredients:
- 1 pkg of Jello Chocolate Instant Pudding (dry powder mix)
- 1/2 cup hot fudge ice cream topping (warmed up)
- 1 tub or 8 oz Cool Whip Whipped Topping, thawed
- 16 Oreo Cookies, chopped (about 2 cups)
- 12 ice cream sandwiches (chocolate, vanilla, mint, etc.)
- Also: Foil, whisk, baking spatula
Note: Brand name is irrelevant for the recipe. You can use any equivalent brand or store brand and will have the same delicious result.
Directions:
- In a medium bow, whisk the warmed fudge topping with 1 cup of whipped cream until well blended.
- Add the dry pudding mix, stir for a full 2 minutes. Add 1 cup of chopped cookies and stir until the cookies are fully mixed throughout the “frosting”.
- On a 24″ piece of foil, place 4 ice cream sandwiches side by side. Cover with half of the mixture. Add 4 more sandwiches, then add the rest of mixture.
- Add the last 4 ice cream sandwiches, frost with the rest of the plain whipped cream. With the remainder of cookie pieces, cover top and side of the cake, and press into the whipped cream. If you’d like to decorate, stick full Oreos into the top of the square cake shape..
- Wrap the cake very loosely with foil and freeze for 4 hours before serving.
Instead of Oreos, you could use other goodies such as Andes mints, raspberries, bananas, strawberries, chocolate chips, crushed butterfingers or M&Ms, and you can use real whipped cream.
Recipe: Teddy Bear Beach Bums “Dirt” Cups
We all loved dirt cake growing up, the one with crushed Oreos and gummy worms, but here is a summertime change to the usual dirt cake that everyone will love!
All you have to do is using clear plastic cups, put use blue pudding or jello on the bottom half of the cup. Top the blue dessert with crushed vanilla cookies or vanilla Oreos ( looks like sand). Add sour tape candy cut into strips (the picture shows Airhead Extremes Sour Belts) with a Teddy Graham lying on top enjoying the sunshine. Add a cocktail umbrella and enjoy!
Recipe: Rachael Ray’s Whiskey BBQ Sauce
This recipe is originally from Rachel Ray to be made with her Whiskey BBQ Brisket Sandwiches. It was slightly altered by the blog, Recapo, to make it a little simpler and taste just a bit better.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup of good quality organic ketchup
- 1/2 cup of tomato passata or purée
- 1/2 cup of beef stock
- 3 shots of bourbon whiskey
- 1/4 cup of Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tablespoons of light brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons of cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon of coarse black pepper
- 1 teaspoon of celery seed
- 1 tablespoon of chili powder or hot paprika
- 1 rib of minced celery with leafy tops
- 1/4 cup of grated onion
- 2 large of grated and finely chopped cloves garlic
Directions:
Combine the sauce ingredients in a small pot and reduce over a low bubble for about 30 minutes.