Delicious Recipes for Desserts!

In this video, Betty responds to the request of a viewer, demonstrating how to make a gorgeous, delicious Pound Cake with a Sugar Glaze Topping. Also, this cake has a little surprise inside for a lucky guest!

Ingredients:

1 stick butter
1/2 cup shortening (This may be another stick of butter or margarine or 1/2 cup cooking oil, etc.. I use a blended oil-canola oil blended with vegetable oil.)
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 cup buttermilk (I made my buttermilk from a buttermilk mix.)
3 cups self-rising flour
2 teaspoons lemon extract
1 teaspoon almond extract

Cream a stick butter and 1/2 cup additional shortening with 2 cups sugar. Beat well. Add 4 eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add 3 cups self-rising flour to the mixture, alternately with 1 cup of buttermilk, until flour and buttermilk are used up. Mix well after each addition. Stir in 2 teaspoons lemon extract and 1 teaspoon almond extract. *** For a “Lucky” cake, at this point, add 1 whole almond to some spot in the center of the cake. (For children, use a raisin–no choking!) The piece of cake served with the almond (raisin) is considered “lucky!”*** Pour batter into a greased and floured 10-inch tube pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 5 minutes. I placed an oven rack toward the center of the oven and removed the other rack before preheating oven, because the tube pan needs a lot of space. I also placed a sheet of aluminum foil over the top of the cake pan for the first 45 minutes of baking. When I removed it, the top of the cake was pale, so I let it brown up for 7 minutes, and then returned the foil to the top of the pan for the remainder of the baking. Test for doneness by inserting a toothpick into the cake, and, if it comes out clean, the cake is done. Remove the cake from the oven, and let it cool in the pan for at least 10 to 15 minutes. I let mine cool for about 3 hours. Run a thin knife around the outside of the pan and around the tube. Then, remove the cake from the pan, put it on a nice serving dish, and let it cool completely. This cake may be eaten as is, or you may ice it with your favorite icing. I used a sugar glaze (below).

Ingredients for Sugar Glaze:

2 1/2 cups of confectioner’s sugar (more or less)
3 tablespoons water (You may use any appropriate liquid–milk, fruit juice, etc.)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or almond extract, optional (I did not add any extra flavoring, but, for this cake, almond flavoring would be nice.)

Combine the 2 1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar with 3 tablespoons liquid, and mix until smooth. Pour or spoon the glaze as desired. For this cake, it it nice to let it dribble off the top edge on the outside and down the center. I think you will enjoy this cake on many occasions!!! –Betty

Dump Cake Recipes – A Dutch Oven Is Great For Baking Dump Cakes!

Every year about 20 of us go on an annual camping trip. However, this year I am bringing along a surprise for the group. I have recently purchased a new, Dutch oven for cooking an easy and different meal. A person can get tired of eating only hamburgers and hot dogs for a week. My oven comes with a complete, Dutch oven cookbook. As I was going through the cookbook, I found some truly fantastic recipes that I want to try. My favorite is the dump cake recipe. When I first read the name “dump” cake, I was not sure what I was expecting. I certainly was not expecting what the recipe produced.

The recipe was originally created to be cooked by kids. Therefore, making it lives up to its name. The dump cake recipe is quick and easy and can be made with two main ingredients in four easy steps.

Dump cake ingredients:

A can of your favorite fruit
A box of white cake mix
Butter (optional)
Non stick spray (optional)

Four easy steps:

Step 1 – open a can of fruit and empty it into the bottom of your Dutch oven. Do not forget to pack the can opener. You may also want to spray the oven with a non-stick spray. This will help keep the cake from sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Step 2 – poor the box of white cake mix evenly over the fruit. If you desire, you can place slices of butter of top of the cake mix.

Step 3 – place your Dutch oven over the open coals and place some coals on top of the oven.

Step 4 – bake until the cake is golden brown and crust is formed around the edges.

Using a Dutch oven to cook your meals over an open fire takes some skill. You need to understand how and when adding and removing coals will affect the dish that you are cooking. You will want to practice using the oven to make sure you get the feel of how it handles temperature changes. Especially, when making the dump cake recipe. Burning the bottom will ruin the taste. That is the last thing you want while you are camping out.