Birthday cake recipe that's easy but NOT from a box??

Question

I'm not completely clueless in the kitchen, but I don't bake all that much. I got stuck with birthday-cake duty for a friend's party. I'd love something that's pretty simple but still really good. Anyone got a great recipe? I'd be so grateful!!

Answer 1

Almond Angel Food Cake with Crème Anglaise and Macerated Strawberries:

This recipe highlights eggs at their very best--the cake gets its regal airiness from beaten egg whites, and the crème anglaise gets its silky-smooth consistency form egg yolks. This cake doesn't rise as much as a traditional angel food cake does because of the almonds, which weigh it down slightly.

Strawberries:
8 cups sliced strawberries
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons orange juice
1 teaspoon grated orange rind

Cake:
3/4 cup slivered almonds
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 cup sifted cake flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
10 large egg whites
1 1/4 teaspoons cream of tartar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract

Crème Anglaise:
2/3 cup sugar
8 large egg yolks
3 1/2 cups 1% low-fat milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325°.

To prepare strawberries, combine first 4 ingredients in a bowl. Cover and chill 3 hours.

To prepare cake, place almonds and 2 tablespoons granulated sugar in a food processor; pulse until finely chopped. Sift together the flour, powdered sugar, and salt into a bowl. Combine the almond mixture with flour mixture, and set aside. Beat egg whites in a large bowl at high speed of a mixer until foamy. Add cream of tartar; beat until soft peaks form. Add 3/4 cup granulated sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating until stiff peaks form. Sprinkle the flour mixture over the egg white mixture, 1/4 cup at a time; fold in. Fold in almond extract. Spoon the batter into an ungreased 10-inch tube pan, and spread evenly. Bake at 325° for 1 hour or until the cake springs back when lightly touched.

While the cake is baking, prepare the crème anglaise. Combine 2/3 cup sugar and yolks in a large saucepan, stirring with a whisk until blended. Gradually add milk to the pan, stirring constantly with a whisk. Cook over medium heat until mixture coats the back of a spoon (about 8 minutes), stirring constantly. Immediately pour mixture into a bowl; stir in vanilla. Cover and chill (the mixture will thicken as it cools).

Invert cake pan, and cool for 40 minutes. Loosen cake from sides of pan using a narrow metal spatula. Invert cake onto plate. Serve with strawberries and crème anglaise.

Yield: 16 servings (serving size: 1 slice cake, 1/3 cup strawberries, and 1/4 cup crème anglaise))

Answer 2

You should get the book Cake Mix Doctor. It is great for stuff like this. Here's the idea: You take a mix, but you enhance it to make it SO MUCH BETTER. I am going to paste in the link for my fav recipe which is the Incredible Melted Ice Cream Cake. I made this for a friend's birthday once and it was a huge hit! Plus you can customize it by using your friend's favorite kind of ice cream!
http://www.cakemixdoctor.com/recipe/pagemaker.cgi?981144885.txt

Answer 3

i just made a great hot fudge cake. look on the back panel of a box of hershey 's cocoa. a fruit cocktail cake it also good.
2 eggs
1 1/2 cp sugar
2 cp all purpose flour
2 cps fruit cocktail with juice
2 tsp baking soda
mix well and bake at 300* not sure on the time...about 20-30 min.
Topping
1 cp canned cream
1 cp sugar
3 egg yolks
2 sticks of butter or margarine
1 tsp vanilla
cook over medium heat stirring contantly (so it doesn't scorch) for about 10 minutes.
then add 1 1/2 cp cocunut & some chopped walnuts.
personally, i don't care for the cocunut and walnut.

Answer 4

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The truth is that the Paleo Diet will never be considered a fad because it's just simply the way that humans evolved to eat over approximately 2 million years. And eating in a similar fashion to our ancestors has been proven time and time again to offer amazing health benefits, including prevention of most diseases of civilization such as cancer, heart disease, alzheimers, and other chronic conditions that are mostly caused by poor diet and lifestyle. One of the biggest misunderstandings about the Paleo Diet is that it's a meat-eating diet, or a super low-carb diet. This is not true

Answer 5

Sour Cream Chocolate Cake

Yield; 3, 8” round or 1 large 9 x 13 pan


3 cups all purpose flour (13.5 oz)
4 eggs
½ teaspoon salt
8 oz butter
1 pint sour cream
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 ¼ cups sugar
5 oz unsweetened chocolate
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Melt chocolate and butter in double boiler. Cool to room temp.
2. Beat eggs with sugar and vanilla.
3. Add melted chocolate and butter
4. Add sifted dry ingredients alternately with sour cream.
5. Bake 1 hour or until tests done (toothpick in center come out clean) in 350*F oven.


Basic Layer Cake (1-2-3-4 Cake)

Yield=5-5 ¾ cups batter (1 2 layer 8 or 9’ or 1 9/13 layer)
Oven=350

3 cup sifted cake flour (12 ¾ ounces)
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks)
2 cups sugar (14 ounces)
4 large eggs separated
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract


1. Cream butter & sugar. Add egg yolks and blend. On low speed add dry ingredients alternately with milk ending with flour. Add vanilla and any other flavorings.

2. In clean bowl whip the egg whites to stiff peak. Fold into batter. Pan and bake about 30-35 minutes til done.


Variations

Coconut Cake

Add 1 cup shredded sweetened coconut to batter and ¾ teaspoon coconut extract. Frost with Coconut icing.



Orange Cake

Replace milk with orange juice, add grated zest of 1 orange.



Lemon Cake

Add 1 teaspoon lemon extract and 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest.



Spice Cake

Add 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon, ½ teaspoon each of ground nutmeg, allspice, ginger, and cloves, 1 tablespoon sifted unsweetened cocoa.

Answer 6

3 eggs
1/2 cup shortening or oil
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups flour
4 tsp baking powder
Mix first 3 ingredients, then add slowly, in parts, milk/vanilla and flour/salt /baking powder until thoroughly mixed. Add more milk if necessary pour into pans and bake until done. should make 3 8" layers. or one 13 x 9 " sheet

Answer 7

Go to Culinary Chef at http://www.culinarychef.com for recipes.

Answer 8

Everybody I know always made it from the box.There are many recipes online.Have you tried Google?

Answer 9

www.kraftfoods.com
www.hersheys.com
www.verybestbaking.com
www.tasteofhome.com
www.bettycrocker.com