Strawberry Cheesecake-Stuffed Pound Cake

INGREDIENTS

Serves 10

1 store-bought pound cake
1 block (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
½ cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 cup strawberries, diced


PREPARATION

1. Cut the center out of the pound cake, leaving a half-inch border on the bottom and along each side.
2. In a medium bowl, use a hand mixer to beat together the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and lemon zest until the mixture is smooth.
3. Add the strawberries and beat until the mixture has turned a light pink color but there are still nice strawberry chunks.
4. Pour the cream cheese mixture into the hollowed-out pound cake shell.*
5. Using the removed pieces of pound cake, crumble bits of cake on top of the cheesecake mixture to form a thick layer of crumbs.
6. Refrigerate for at least 8 hours.
7. Slice into 10 half-inch slices and serve.
8. Enjoy!

*Be careful when filling the pound cake and when transferring to the refrigerator. Cutting the border too thin may cause the sides to spread too far once the cheesecake mixture is added. You can simply place the pound cake on a plate or tray before filling to make the transfer to the refrigerator easier. Use something to prop up the sides in case they’ve bowed out too much, to prevent breaking. Once the filling has set in the fridge, it will hold its shape.

Upside-Down Banana Bread

INGREDIENTS

Servings: 6-8
4-5 ripe bananas
3 eggs
½ cup oil
½ cup granulated sugar
1 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
2 cups flour
½ cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
2-3 bananas, sliced
Vanilla ice cream


PREPARATION

Preheat oven to 350°F/175°C.
In a large bowl, mash the ripe bananas.
Add the eggs, oil, sugar, and cinnamon, mixing until evenly incorporated.
Add the flour and mix until the batter has no large pockets of flour. Set aside.
In a pot over low heat, melt the butter, then mix in the brown sugar until dissolved.
Bring up the heat to medium, cooking until the mixture starts bubbling.
Remove the caramel from heat and pour into a greased 9×9 baking pan.
Lay the banana slices evenly on top of the caramel.
Spread the banana bread batter on top.
Bake 40-50 minutes.
Cool until the bottom is barely warm and use a knife to loosen the edges from the pan.
Place a plate upside-down on top of the pan, then invert the pan, flipping the banana bread onto the plate.
Slice, then serve with vanilla ice cream.

Strawberry Cheesecake Poke Cake

INGREDIENTS

Servings: 9
Cooking spray
6 graham crackers, whole
½ box vanilla cake mix, prepared according to package
1 pound strawberries with tops removed
1 8-ounce block cream cheese, softened
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup milk
8 ounces whipped topping
Strawberries for garnish


PREPARATION

Preheat oven to 350°F/175C.
Spray a 9×9 baking pan with cooking spray.
Take 5 of the graham crackers and arrange them in the pan, breaking some of them to fill in the gaps.
Crush the remaining graham cracker and set aside.
Pour the vanilla cake batter on the graham cracker base, then bake for 25-30 minutes until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
Using the back of a wooden spoon, poke 4 rows of 4 holes in the cake, making 16 holes total.
In a large bowl, mash strawberries with a whisk until very fine.
Add cream cheese and condensed milk, whisking until there are no large lumps.
Add the milk, stirring until smooth.
Pour the mixture over the cake and set until the cake has absorbed as much of the mixture as it can. Some of the mixture will still stay on top, which is okay.
Spread the whipped topping evenly on top.
Chill the cake anywhere from 3 hours to overnight.
Slice, and serve with strawberries and the reserved graham cracker crumbs.

3-Ingredient Slow Cooker Apple Spice Cake

Here’s the recipe:

1 Box Spice Cake Mix
2 20 oz Cans of Apple Pie Filling
8 oz Butter

Pour apple pie filling into slow cooker. Top with cake mix and butter. Cook on high for 2-2.5 hours. Great with vanilla ice cream.

Baking: Three Layer Smores Cake

I really enjoyed how this smores cake came out that I'm dedicating a whole post (with recipe!) to it.

To remind you, the cake is a chocolate base with white chocolate graham cracker filling, and a toaste marshmallow frosting.

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Cooking for September Birthday Ladies

In September, we've been celebrating dual birthday dinners for Mrs. Pattis Magician and Ms. Pastry Chef's birthdays. I always tell people that they shouldn't have to cook for themselves for their own birthdays. So when I joined this family, I offered to cook for them for their birthdays. And what have they picked year after year? Chinese food. And who am I to say no?

So feast your eyes on the meal that I gave them this year. To see these dishes more up close and personal, keep reading.

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Baking: Race Car Cake

Another kid's birthday means another attempt at a specialty cake. This time, it was my nephew's birthday who turned 5 years old this year. And what did he want for his birthday cake? A race car. Damn, I knew it was going to be difficult. I scoured the internet for ideas and pieced together some good ones.

Before I started, I tried to find an orange race car to use as the basis for the cake. His favorite color is orange. Once I found that, off to make the cake.

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Baking: Lotus Seed Moon Cakes

This post has been in the making for 2 years now. If you're a frequent reader then you know my goal of making traditional dishes from scratch. One such dish/dessert is moon cakes. Every year during mid autumn or moon festival, these cakes are given to your loved ones as a gift. Now, many store bought ones are pretty good. If you can find a bakery that makes them fresh then that's even better. But as you know, I like to try to make things from scratch so that I know exactly what is going into things.

A couple of years ago, I started my moon cake experiment. I bought molds over the internet and then research for recipes. A good and easy recipe was really hard to come by. I finally settled on one and tried it out. The results I got were just okay. It wasn't bad per se but I also wasn't entirely happy either. Fast forward 2 years and I found another recipe. It looked easier but still seemed to be okay. To my surprise, it was way better than the first. The results were better and it was less time consuming. That's a win win in my book.

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Baking: Hello Kitty Cake

Ever since I decided to be the sole birthday cake baker for my niece and nephew, I've decided to push myself. I started with very simple layered cakes. But then I started playing around with marshmallow fondant (the only kind I will volunteer to eat and make). And one thing led to another and I'm making more complex cakes. There's still a lot for me to learn but this is a good start.

So when it was my niece's 3rd birthday this year, it was of no surprise that she wanted Hello Kitty as her cake. Lucky for me, the shape of Hello Kitty's head is relatively round and uniform. Unfortunately for me, the simplicity of her face can lead to obvious mistakes. I didn't want to give her a ghetto looking Hello Kitty whose face may have gone through a stroke. Nope, I want the cake to look like the real deal. And so I tried really hard on this cake. And as you can see above, it came out really good! I am really proud of this cake. It's the best one I've made so far.

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