Molten Chocolate Cupcakes

Ingredients:
6 oz semisweet baking chocolate
1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp. butter
3 whole eggs
3 egg yolks
1 + 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup flour
additional powdered sugar for dusting
baking cocoa for dusting

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Grease 2 muffin tins (enough for 24 cupcakes) and then dust each with baking cocoa (just like you would dust a cake pan with flour). You can also use cupcake papers to line each muffin spot. In a small saucepan, melt the baking chocolate with the butter over medium heat, stirring continuously. Once smooth, remove from heat and set aside.

In a large bowl, wisk the whole eggs and the egg yolks together until they are well beaten. Add the powdered sugar and the flour and beat until smooth. Then add the melted chocolate mixture and beat until smooth again. Divide batter evenly among the muffin tins (this recipe should make about 16). Bake at 425 degrees for 9 minutes. Be sure to watch them carefully. They are done when the edges look set and the middle is still soft. Although they taste just fine if they are cooked all the way through. Remove from pan and sprinkle with powdered sugar. These are really good served warm with a little ice cream.

Difficulty: Easy
Time to make: 20 minutes
Recipe Origin: http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/molten-chocolate-cakes/be3b3ba1-f88e-4da1-9c89-75f4f1a08bba?sc=Warm%20Dessert%20Recipes&term=Comfort-Food-Warm-Desserts&itemId=eccb1270-e38a-4f54-9e6c-2bcc22d181ea

Southern Red Velvet Cake

Ingredients:

Shortening for the pans

2 + 1/2 cups flour

1 + 1/2 cups sugar

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. fine salt

1 tsp. cocoa powder

1 + 1/2 cups vegetable oil

1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature

2 large eggs, at room temperature

1 T. red food coloring (1/2 ounce)

1 tsp. white distilled vinegar

1 tsp.vanilla extract

Cream Cheese Frosting

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease and flour cake pans.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder. In another large bowl, whisk together the oil,buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla.

Using a standing mixer, mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined and a smooth batter is formed.

Divide the cake batter evenly among the prepared cake pans. Place the pans in the oven evenly spaced apart. Bake at 350 degrees until the cake pulls away from the side of the pans, and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean, about 30 minutes.

Remove the cakes from the oven and run a knife around the edges to loosen them from the sides of the pans. One at a time, invert the cakes onto a plate and then re-invert them onto a cooling rack, rounded-sides up. Let cool completely.

Frost the cake. Place 1 layer, rounded-side down, in the middle of a rotating cake stand. Using a palette knife or offset spatula spread some of the cream cheese frosting over the top of the cake. (Spread enough frosting to make a 1/4 to 1/2-inch layer.) Carefully set another layer on top, rounded-side down, and repeat. Top with the remaining layer and cover the entire cake with the remaining frosting. 

Difficulty: Easy

Time to Make: about 45 minutes

Recipe Origin: Cakeman Raven, Cakeman Raven Confectionery, NYC

Coffee Cake

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 egg
1/4 cup butter, melted

Topping:
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1 Tbsp. butter

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, sugar, milk, egg, and melted butter. Mix together ingredients and pour the batter in a greased 8x8 pan. In a small bowl mix together the ingredients for the topping. Sprinkle the topping over the cake batter and bake the cake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes (until a toothpick comes out clean). Cool slightly before serving.

Difficulty: Easy
Time to Make: about 30 minutes
Recipe Origin: unknown

Spice Cake

Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup nuts
1 + 1/4 cups fruit, blended (peaches, pears, apples, or fruit cocktail)

1 + 3/4 + 2 Tbsp. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground cloves

Note: If you use applesauce for your blended fruit, add 1/8 tsp. ginger and 1/8 tsp. allspice.

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, cream together the sugar, eggs, vegetable oil, nuts, and blended fruit. Add the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and ground cloves and stir together till blended. Pour batter into a greased 9x13 pan and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes (until a toothpick comes out clean). Serve warm with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce.

Difficulty: Easy
Time to Make: about an hour
Recipe Origin: Mom

Pats Oatmeal Cake

Ingredients:
1 + 1/2 cup boiling water
1 cup quick oats
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 eggs

1 + 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg

Topping:
1/2 cup margarine
1 cup brown sugar
6 Tbsp. evaporated milk*
1 + 1/2 cups coconut

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine the boiling water, oats, and shortening. Stir until the shortening is melted. Add the sugar, brown sugar, vanilla extract, and the eggs (once its cooled enough). Stir again until its smooth. Then add the flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Stir till blended and pour into a greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes (until a toothpick comes out clean). While the cake is baking, mix up all the ingredients for the topping in a small bowl. When the cake comes out of the oven, immediately top it with the topping. Carefully spread the topping out evenly on the cake. Put the cake under the broiler and leave the door open slightly on the oven. Watch the cake continuously until the top starts to turn golden brown. Remove the cake from the oven and cool completely.

* If you need a substitute for evaporated milk you can mix 1/3 cup nonfat dry milk with 3/8 cup water. Then use the amount called for in the recipe.

Difficulty: Medium
Time to Make: about 40 minutes
Recipe Origin: Mom (who got it from Pat)

No-Bake Philly Cheesecake

Ingredients:
1 pkg. Philadelphia cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar
8 ounces cool whip topping
1 - 9" graham cracker crust

Directions:
In a medium bowl, combine the cream cheese and sugar till well blended. Gently fold in the cool whip. Pour mixture into the crust and refrigerate at least 3 hours (or overnight).

Tips: Top the cheesecake with fresh fruit or pie filling before serving for variety.

Difficulty: Easy
Time to Make: about 15 minutes plus 3 hours chilling time
Recipe Origin: unknown

Miniature Cheesecakes

Ingredients:
18-24 vanilla wafers
2 - 8 ounce packages cream cheese
2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tsp. lemon juice
blackberry pie filling (or any kind of pie filling you want to try)
whip cream (for topping)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. To prepare, place 18-24 muffin papers in a muffin tin and put 1 vanilla wafer in each paper. In a medium bowl, mix together cream cheese, eggs, sugar, vanilla, and lemon juice with a mixer until ingredients are smooth. Spoon mixture over vanilla wafers and bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes. Cool the cheesecakes completely and top them with a spoonful of pie filling and whipped cream. Store in the refrigerator.

Difficulty: Easy
Time to Make: about 30 minutes prep time plus 40 minutes cooling time.

Chocolate Health Bar Cake

Ingredients:
1 chocolate cake mix, prepared according to the directions on the box
1 can sweet and condensed milk
1 jar caramel ice cream topping
1 large tub of cool whip, thawed
2-3 crushed heath bars

Directions:
Prepare the chocolate cake mix according to the directions on the box. After the cake is done, and while it is still warm, use a wooden spoon to poke holes in the cake about 1.5" apart. Pour the sweet & condensed milk over the cake and then pour the caramel ice cream topping over the cake. Place the cake in the refrigerator and let it cool completely. Once cake is cool, ice it with the cool whip and sprinkle the health bar over the top. Store in the refrigerator.

Difficulty: Easy
Time to Make: about 40 minutes prep time + 2 hours chilling time.
Recipe Origin: online somewhere

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake

Ingredients:
Crust:
1 + 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/3 cup melted butter

Filling:
3 - 8 ounce packages cream cheese, softened
14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
3 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup mini chocolate chips
1 tsp. flour

Directions:
For crust, combine all ingredients in a small bowl an mix until well blended. Press crumbs onto the bottom and sides of a 9" spring-form pan. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Put the cream cheese in a medium bowl and beat it with the sweetened condensed milk (gradually adding the milk). Add the eggs and vanilla and beat till smooth. Measure out 1/3 of the chocolate chips and sprinkle them with the flour. Fold the floured chocolate chips into the cream cheese mixture. Pour the filling into the crust and sprinkle the remaining chocolate chips on the top.

Bake at 300 degrees for 1 hour. Turn the oven off (leaving the cheesecake in the oven and the door closed). Leave the cheesecake in the oven for another hour. Remove from oven and cool completely. Chill before removing the sides of the pan.

Directions: Medium
Time to Make: about 2 + 1/2 hours
Recipe Origin: online somewhere

Chocolate Cheesecake

Ingredients:
4 squares semi-sweet Bakers chocolate
2 pkgs cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar
8 ounces cool whip, thawed
Oreo or chocolate pie crust

Directions:
Melt the Bakers chocolate in the microwave and stir till smooth. Add the cream cheese and sugar and stir till creamy. Gently fold in the cool whip and then pour mixture into the pie crust. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours (or overnight) before serving.

Difficulty: Easy
Time to Make: about 20 minutes prep plus at least 3 hours chilling time
Recipe Origin: Tricia Richards

Boston Cream Pie Minis

Ingredients:
24 chocolate or yellow cupcakes

Filling:
1 cup milk, cold
1 - 4 ounce instant vanilla pudding mix
1/2 cup cool whip

Icing:
1 cup cool whip
4 squares Baker's chocolate

Directions:
For the filling, beat together the milk and vanilla pudding mix. Let it stand 5 minutes and then fold in the cool whip. Fill each cupcake with about 1 Tbsp of the filling. For the icing, microwave together the cool whip and Baker's chocolate till the chocolate is almost melted. Stir till smooth. Frost each cupcake with the chocolate icing and refrigerate cupcakes for at least 15 minutes before serving.

Difficulty: Easy
Time to Make: about 90 minutes (including cupcake prep time)
Recipe Origin: Tricia Richards

Banana Cake

Ingredients:
1 + 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 cup butter, melted
3 bananas, mashed
2 Tbsp. sour cream

2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 cup nuts
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Icing to frost cake with.

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, cream together the sugar and eggs. Add the melted butter, mashed bananas, and sour cream. Stir till well blended. Add the remaining ingredients and stir again till blended. Pour batter into a greased 9x13 pan and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Cool completely and frost with icing.

Tips: This cake is good with sour cream icing, peanut butter icing, or just plain vanilla icing.

Directions: Easy
Time to Make: about an hour + cooling and frosting time
Recipe Origin: Mom