Chocolate Strawberry Layer Cake

I enjoyed making this smooth chocolate cake with a mixture of frostings and fillings! This summer-y chocolate cake is perfect for any of your summer gatherings. Chocolate, fresh fruit, and cool whip for a light, cool summer treat.

I did make a few different layers. First, I iced the bottom cake with chocolate icing and layered it with strawberries topping with a layer of cool whip. I added another layer of strawberries and cool whip so the top layer would have something to stick to.

I used the chocolate frosting to ice the top and then used the rest of my thinly sliced strawberries to decorate the top.

I used almost 2 pounds of fresh strawberries for this cake!

Thanks to NellieBellie.com for the chocolate cake recipe!

Chocolate Cake Recipe 

3/4 cup soft butter

3 eggs at room temp.

2 cups flour

3/4 cup cocoa 

1 tsp. baking soda

3/4 tsp. baking powder 

1/2 tsp. salt

2 cups sugar

2 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 cups milk

Grease pans (either 2 round 9 inch pans or one 13x9) and either flour or coat with cocoa. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 

Beat butter for 30 seconds or so. Slowly add sugar.

Add eggs one at a time, beating after each one. Beat in vanilla.

Add dry ingredients beating after each addition.

Add half of the milk, beat, and then add the other half. Beat just until everything is nicely combined.

Spread batter evenly into pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes for round pans, 5 minutes or so longer for a 13x9 pan. Watch them! A toothpick inserted in the middle that comes out clean means it is done! 

Let cool completely before icing. 

Chocolate Frosting Recipe

1/2 cup soft butter
1/4 cup cocoa
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 Tbsp. milk

Beat ingredients together. Add additional cocoa, sugar, and milk to taste.

Note: I did not ice my whole cake, I left my sides bare. If you are making this to ice the whole cake I would double or triple this recipe to make sure you have enough frosting.

What's your favorite cake/fruit combination?
Comment below!

Megan

Poppy Seed Bread and Peonies

We've had some beautiful days lately. The flowers are starting to bloom and the days are beginning to warm up. I love that it's still cool enough outside to open the door and windows while I work in the kitchen. If the weather can't brighten up your day this delicious poppy seed bread sure will!

I'm loving the peonies in our yard. We have a really unique peony- I've never seen one like it before.

This is one of my FAVORITE breads ever. My mom made this poppy seed bread while I was growing up and I have many memories of helping her measure out the extracts and flavorings. This is one of the first recipes I learned to bake.

I make this recipe in my 5 quart Kitchen Aid mixer and always double the recipe when I make it. I put all of the ingredients in my mixer in the order listed and leave the mixer on stir, or your lowest notch, the whole time. It mixes it really well and I've found that if you start and stop the mixer, the jerk of the machine starting will slosh your precious batter out! So because of that, I let mine mix nice and slow while I add the ingredients and it doesn't affect the recipe!

The little loaves make great gifts! Who doesn't love a little loaf of sweet bread??

This bread is covered in a sweet, orange juice glaze = so good!

The only poppy seed bread recipe I will ever make. Seriously, it's that good! Thanks to my long time friends, the Troyer Family, for letting me share this recipe!

Poppy Seed Bread Recipe

3 cups flour

2 1/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 cup milk

1 1/8 cup vegetable oil

3 eggs

1 1/2 Tbsp. poppy seeds

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 tsp. almond extract

1 1/2 tsp. butter flavoring

Combine all of the ingredients for the bread and mix well, 1-2 minutes, with an electric mixer. Pour into 6 greased mini loaf pans or 2 regular size bread pans. 

Bake at 350 degrees F for 50-60 minutes. Let cool in pan for 5 minutes, then glaze.

Glaze:

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup orange juice

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp. almond extract

1/2 tsp. butter flavoring

Mix all glaze ingredients well. Pour over warm bread while still in pans.

Recipe doubles well. Bread freezes well. Store in an airtight container.

I'm having an impromptu party in my kitchen! Flowers, food, and bread! :)

Who is going to make some of this sweet bread?

What's your favorite bread? Comment below! 

Megan

Angel Food Cake with Chocolate Frosting

Nate and I went the entire month of April with no sugar!! We avoided sweets and most refined sugars (we still ate fruit). It was a long 30 days.

The first thing I made was this beauty.

  I love making angel food cake because the mixer does all of the work! The key is to beat the eggs, beat 'em again, and beat 'em some more! You want those egg whites to stand up by themselves! This gives you that light, fluffy, and sponge-like cake.

This was my first time making an angel food cake with a chocolate frosting. It was so simple! A light, fluffy cake with a light, fluffy frosting. Perfect. 

Nate grated semi-sweet baking chocolate squares on my box grater into fine shavings. He did such a good job. :)

Okay let's get to the recipe! This recipe is from the 4-H Baking Project Book. 

Angel Food Cake Recipe

1 cup cake flour

1 1/2 cups sugar, divided

1 2/3 cup egg whites, about 12 large eggs

1 tsp. cream of tartar

1/4 tsp. salt

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 tsp. lemon juice

1/2 tsp. almond extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Adjust oven rack to lowest position.

In a small bowl, whisk flour with 3/4 cup sugar. Place egg whites in the electric mixer's bowl and beat at a low speed until beginning to froth. Add cream of tartar and salt. Beat on medium speed until egg whites form soft mounds. Add remaining 3/4 cup sugar, 1 Tbsp. at a time, until all sugar is added and whites are shiny and form soft peaks. Add vanilla, lemon juice, and almond; beat until just blended. 

Sift flour over egg whites about 3 Tbsp. at a time, and gently fold in. Gently scrape batter into a 10-inch tube pan and smooth the top. Give the pan a couple raps on the counter to remove any air bubbles. Bake until the cake is golden brown and the top springs back when pressed, about 50-60 minutes.

If the cake pan has prongs around the rim, invert pan on prongs over a cooling rack. If no prongs, invert pan over a bottle or funnel so air can circulate. Let cake cool completely, 2-3 hours.

Remove the cake by running a metal knife around the edges of the pan, being careful not to separate the crust from the cake. Slide out of the pan and cut the same way around removable bottom to release. Place the cake, bottom side up on a plate. Cut slices by gently sawing with a serrated knife. 

Chocolate Frosting Recipe

1 small container cool whip, 8 oz.

3 oz. semi sweet baking chocolate, extra for garnish

berries for decoration

In a small bowl mix chocolate into cool whip. Using a serrated knife slice the cake in half longways. Spread some of the frosting on the bottom layer and put the top layer back on. Ice the top and sides. Sprinkle with chocolate shavings and top with fruit. 

Keep in refrigerator. 

A lovely light treat that everyone is sure to love!

What's your favorite angel food topping?

Megan