Strawberry Swirl Cake

Strawberry Swirl Cake

Summertime means Strawberries!

This recipe fits into the “semi –homemade” category of my recipe box. But don’t let that trick you, it tastes 100% homemade and delicious! The combination of strawberry, vanilla, and whip cream will have everyone begging for more. I promise!

What you will need:

1. One box of Duncan Hines Vanilla Cake Mix
2. One Box of Duncan Hines Strawberry Cake Mix
3. 6 eggs
4. Vegetable Oil
5. Water
6. 3 Cups of Chopped Strawberries
7. 1/2 Cup of Marshmallow Fluff

Frosting:

1. ½ Block of Cream Cheese
2. 2 Sticks of Unsalted Butter
3. 4 cups of powdered sugar
4. 2 tbs of Strawberry Jello Powder
5. Remaining Strawberry Puree

What your cake should look like before you bake it.

Directions:

• Grease a cake pan (use any size you want. I used a small pan and only used half of the batter. It just depends how much cake you want J)
• Preheat your over to 350 degrees
• Prepare both cake mixes according to directions on the back of the box
• Pour the marshmallow cream and chopped strawberries into a food processor. Process for 1 full minute.
• Pour some of the vanilla batter on the bottom of your pan
• Pour multiple lines of the strawberry cake batter on top of the vanilla batter.
• Add 6 spoonfuls of strawberry mixture on top of the batter. Place the spoonfuls in various places around the pan. You want to use about half of the strawberry puree you previously made.
• With a knife, swirl the batter and strawberry mixture together.
• Bake for 25-30 minutes.

Frosting Directions:

• While yours cake is baking, you can make the frosting.
• In your mixer, cream together the butter and cream cheese. Whip until fluffy.
• Slowly add in the powdered sugar. Mix well
• Add in the remaining strawberry puree
• Add in 2 tbs of Strawberry Jello Powder – Mix well.

Once your cake is cooled, frost the cake, cut and serve. Finish each slice with some whip cream and enjoy!!

Have a sweet Tuesday friends!

xoxo, Jill

Orange Vanilla Cream Cupcakes – Easy!

Orange Cupcakes - Photo by MyBakingAddiction

Happy Monday!

Today I have a special recipe for all of you busy moms who still want to bake delicious cupcakes but don’t have the time to make them 100% from scratch. This recipe is easy, delicious, and still has that homemade taste!

Orange Vanilla Cream Cupcakes

What you’ll need:

• 1 box of Duncan Hines White Cake Mix
• 3 Egg Whites
• 1/3 Cup of Veg Oil
• 1 cup of water
• ¼ cup of orange soda
• ¼ cup of Orange Jello Mix (dry)
• 1 box of   Instant Vanilla Pudding

Directions:

1. Ignore the directions on the box 🙂
2. Combine Cake mix with Egg Whites, Veg Oil, Water and Orange Soda
3. Mix Well
4. Add ¼ cup of Dry orange jello powder
5. Mix well for 2 minutes
6. In a separate bowl, make your instant pudding mix (just follow the directions on the box – all you will need is Milk)
7. Fill your cupcake liners a little over halfway with batter
8. Place 1 TBS of Vanilla Pudding in each cupcake liner (The pudding will bake into the center of the cupcake and create a delicious filling!! Just don’t use more than 1 TBS)
9. Bake at 350 for 18 -20 minutes.
10. Let cool before you frost

I like to finish these off with my traditional buttercream and some white chocolate chips. Yum!

Now who says those aren’t homemade?? Every mom needs a quick cupcake and these are perfect because they are so delicious and kids and adults alike will gobble them up!! Enjoy.

Xoxo, Jill

*This recipe is a Stay Calm Cupcake Original. If you would like to feature this recipe on your blog or website, please contact me at staycalmcupcake@yahoo.com.*

Bittersweet Cupcakes

 I recently baked strawberry supreme cupcakes and old-fashion vanilla cupcakes.

I knew I didn’t have time to make the batter from scratch, especially on a week night, so I used box cake (I know, I can hear the gasps now). I altered it though, and I was happy to find that they turned out fabulous!

“Semi-Homemade” Strawberry Cupcakes

 1 Box of Duncan Hines Strawberry Cake Mix

 1 cup of finely diced strawberries

 2 tsp of strawberry flavoring

 1 tsp of pink food coloring

Make the batter according to the directions on the box

Add in diced strawberries – mix well

Add extra flavoring and food coloring – mix well

For the icing, I used my recipe for butter-cream icing. Feel free to use whichever homemade frosting you like most. It’s important to have homemade icing though, it counteracts the “box cake “ 🙂

Old-Fashion Vanilla Cupcakes

 1 Box of Duncan Hines Vanilla Cake Mix

 1 tsp vanilla extract

 2 tbsp of water (in addition to what the box calls for)

Bake according to box direction – Add frosting. I suggest cream-cheese or chocolate.

Pretty In Pink Cupcakes! Good Luck Erin!!

Now enjoy the cupcakes that took you half the time to bake but taste just as fabulous!

Cupcakes are the sweetest gift you could give someone. It shows them you took the time out of your day to bake them something –and seriously, who doesn’t LOVE cupcakes??

Enjoy the tricks, and don’t think that cupcakes are only for birthdays. Cupcakes are good all year round!

Til next time, stay sweet. xoxo