The Ranch Kitchen's Apple Cake

It's been years since I made my last apple cake.  It's one of my husband's favorites, even if he doesn't remember that fact. 

Years ago, one of our most veteran teachers Mavis Dacus would bring her apple cake to school. It was one of the best cakes I'd ever eaten and remember it well to this day. Being the organized person that I am....I've had the recipe in my hands twice...lost it... and now had to resort with trying my best to recreate it.  I will be asking for the recipe again from her sweet granddaughter Dee...hint...hint.

This past weekend I bought a jumbo bag of tart, green apples from my local Sam's Club so that making an apple cake would definitely happen. 

As I made this cake, I'd forgotten how hard it is to mix the dough together once you add the apples in.  It's for sure a muscle building exercise making this delicious cake, but so worth it.  Just make sure you mix the ingredients at the end together with a large, sturdy spoon or you might break your mixer.

The cinnamon can also be optional if you have allergies to it, but I think it makes the cake even better.   

Click here for the recipe for The Ranch Kitchen's Apple Cake!

As the leaves begin to fall and apples are being harvested, this is the perfect cake to make for home, work, church or just because you know your husband loves it.  Right Scott?!  (He really did love it!) And thankfully so did our second grade teachers today at school. 

Hugs!

Sometimes it takes a little muscle to get the cake in the oven!

Alise - The Ranch Kitchen

Alyse & Ruthie's Chocolate Chip Cake

Have I told you how much I love chocolate?  I adore the smell, the thought and all the different flavors of chocolate! My house has candy bowls of sweets and chocolate throughout and found I'm the only one that really eats them.  I don't really eat them a lot, but a small snack size Hershey's Kiss seems to curb my appetite and hold me until dinner.

Alyse Jones Bennett at our school's Thanksgiving luncheon with her wonderful cake!

Today I'm sharing another Alyse's recipe and not mine for Alyse and Ruthie's Chocolate Chip Cake.  It's a dense, rich and decadent cake from a young teacher at our school.  She didn't follow her Aunt Ruthie's recipe directly, but the results were wonderful!  It sometimes gets a bit confusing having two Alise's on our campus, but we are blessed to have her as she is a fantastic science teacher and cares about 'her' kids so much.

Click here for Alyse and Ruthie's Chocolate Chip Cake!

This cake would a great desssert for anytime of the year.  It would especially be enjoyed this week during Thanksgiving as it has most the ingredients you already have in your pantry and refrigerator.  The original recipe called for 8 ounces or sour cream, but Alyse decided on 16 ounces and it was over the top good. 

Very proud of this young cook. If you'd like to also share recipe on my site it's easy.  Just click on the link at the top or here to Share a Recipe and create an account.  Promise it's super simple and won't take you but a minute.

Once you submit and I check it over, I'll submit!  If you'll leave your email in the text of the recipe (I'll delete it before I submit), I'll let you know when your recipe goes live.  It's a great way to catalog and share your recipes with family and friends!  And I love getting new family favorite recipes for my site!

Enjoy and thanks Alyse for sharing this recipe!

Alise - The Ranch Kitchen

 

Brandi's 1,000,000 Calorie Strawberry Cupcakes...Darn these are good!

 

We have a theme going on at my school on Fridays and a little guilting along the way!  Our principal loves chips with nacho cheese and beef as a treat for lunch on this last day of the school week.  The rest of us after today, also totally caloried out on Brandi's rendition of Paula Deen's Strawberry Cupcakes!  Oh my....at least a million calories for one, but on a Friday in a middle school calories don't count at all.  We've all earned it and my sugar level hasn't been this high since Christmas! 

As an Academic Coordinator, I love getting to work with teachers and especially new teachers.  Brandi is in her second year and first at my school as a fifth grade teacher and doing a marvelous job!  She and our other teachers get me excited about education all the time.  I feel, in some ways like I get to see my daughters who live off every day by watching these young ladies take on their first years of teaching.  It's fun and humbling at the same time.  I hope they know how much faith and gratitude we have in them for trying new things and being as passionate about education as they are!

These cupcakes were definitely a hit and since Brandi was 'guilted' by our principal into making them....she will next time be guilted as well by the rest of the staff, because they were just not good...but darn good! 

Thanks Brandi...keep making and bringing those cupcakes!  We also thank your husband for not keeping them at home!  ;o)

You can find the original recipe at http://www.pauladeen.com/recipes/view2/simply_delicious_strawberry_cake



Brandi's Strawberry Cupcakes via Paula Deen
 
Cake

1 (18.25-ounce) box white cake mix
1 (3-ounce) box strawberry-flavored instant gelatin
1 (15-ounce) package frozen strawberries in syrup, thawed and pureed
4 large eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup water

 

Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting

1/4 cup butter, softened
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 (10-ounce) package frozen strawberries in syrup, thawed and pureed
1/2 teaspoon strawberry extract
7 cups confectioners’ sugar
Freshly sliced strawberries, for garnish, optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease 2 (9-inch) round cake pans.

In a large bowl, combine cake mix and gelatin. Add pureed strawberries, eggs, oil, and water; beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Pour into prepared pans, and bake for 20 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Let cool in pans for 10 minutes. Remove from pans, and cool completely on wire racks.

 

For the frosting:
In a large bowl, beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Beat in 1/4 cup of the strawberry puree and the strawberry extract. (The rest of the puree is leftover but can be used in smoothies or on ice cream for a delicious treat.) Gradually add confectioners’ sugar, beating until smooth.

Spread frosting in between layers and on top and sides of cake. Garnish with sliced fresh strawberries, if desired.

 

***A Ranch Kitchen note on cake pans.  For years I have had a hard time finding 8 inch cake pans.  My original set I got when at my wedding shower have long been rusted out.  I do use 9 inch pans, but prefer the 8 inch because the cakes are more compact and do not look as spread out.  Call me picky...but I am a cake pan collector.  So recently I found the perfect cake pans at Williams and Sonoma in their store, but you can easily find them on their site at http://www.williams-sonoma.com/search/8-inch-cake-pan/bakeware-sheet-pans-cookie-sheets-bakeware/results.html?words=8+inch+cake+pan&N=4294962874+73. 

 

Call it my 'hint' of the day.  You'll like this one - promise!  As my mom would warn you and I've learned from trial and error...ALWAYS place your pans in 250 degree oven after you wash them to totally dry them out from the heat.  If not and you allow water to stand in them they will rust before long and no one wants to cook a cake on rusty pans.

 

Get cooking!

 

Alise and Brandi @ The Ranch Kitchen!