Lemon Velvet Squares

'Tis that time again!  Time for the Cake Slice Bakers to reveal the cake baked for February!  We are baking from Great Cakes by Carole Walter.  The cake for February is the Lemon Velvet Squares.  Mine aren't going to be very square since I elected to bake my cake in a new mini bundt pan.

This cake starts out on the right note...

Fresh citrus zest is usually a good thing and then add in butter - ok yum!

Get your sugar, eggs, liquids and dry ingredients incorporated and you get a silky smooth batter.

Even though my mini bundt pan is new and a non-stick I chose to spray (which I hardly ever do) and sugar the pan.  Put my batter into the pan and had some left over so I sprayed and sugared a nine inch round pan also.

The cakes baked up nicely with a bit of golden brown to the edges.

Let the cakes cool for about ten minutes and then it was time to unmold them.... 

Screeeeeech!!!!

Well that was not part of the plan.

Ok no problem!  The glaze will cover up the "specialness" of these minis.

Time to whip up the glaze.

Well ok, that is not a glaze consistency in my mind.  Glaze should be pour-able.  This is more like a frosting.  Spreadable, which would be fine if I had made the 9"x13" cake the recipe specifies.  But I didn't so...  time to thin it down a bit.

I added about one tablespoon of additional lemon juice and it broke.  As long as you kept stirring the glaze it was fine but as soon as you stopped it started to separate.

The glaze tasted fine and since these were served to my family I just went for it.

Still not glaze thin + not spreadable cake surface  = a quite unattractive dessert.  Well that's a bummer!

This cake and glaze combination was pretty tasty if you like citrus.  The cake crumb texture was light and soft but does need the extra kick of the glaze.

The cake would be best baked in and served from the same pan.  Spread the glaze on while still warm and enjoy!

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Enjoy!

:)

*I didn't publish the recipe because it comes from a copyrighted cookbook.

Pineapple Upside Down Minis

 My sister Jennifer celebrated her 40th birthday this year.
She wanted a dessert table. da da daaaa!  Call sissy!
Tropical theme and she decides that a Pineapple Upside Down cake for each guest would be great.  Oh and a few other things too.  Minis, we made minis.


Makes 24+ cupcake sized minis*

Topping:
3/4 cup butter, melted
1 1/2 cups firmly packed dark brown sugar
2 (20 oz) can pineapple slices**
Maraschino cherries, halved

Cake:
1 pkg Duncan Hines Yellow Cake Mix***
1 (3.4 oz) pkg vanilla instant pudding
4 large eggs
1 cup pineapple juice (from the canned pineapple)
1/2 cup oil

Preheat oven to 350°F.

For topping, mix melted butter and brown sugar. Generously grease your cupcake pan.  Spoon the brown sugar mixture into the pans.  Now lay in the slices of pineapple.  I found in the regular size cupcake pan 3/4 of a slice fit perfectly.  Add your half of maraschino cherry.  Set aside.

For cake, combine cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, juice and oil in large mixing bowl. Beat at medium speed with electric mixer for 2 minutes. Spoon batter over fruit in the pans so that it is about 2/3 full.

Good idea to set the pans onto a cookie sheet for baking - the topping may bubble up and drip a little bit.  Bake at 350 ºF for 15-20 minutes hour or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Once done wait 3 minutes then run a knife around the edges to loosen the minis. Invert onto a wire rack with a tray under it or a serving plate.  Wait for just a moment then lift the pan straight up with a little wiggle.  If some of the pineapple stays in the pan quickly - be careful extremely hot! - place onto the mini that is missing its piece.

You can serve hot or let cool.

*With this recipe I made 24 cupcakes.  I had left over batter that I cooked without the "topping" in a 8" round. You could increase the butter to 1 cup and the brown sugar to 2 cups to make about 36 cupcake sized minis.

**Check how many slices are in the can you purchase to go with how many minis you will be making.  Also chucks work but are much thicker.  I found that three chunks sliced in half (six pieces) fit well.

*** You can also use a pineapple flavored cake mix.

Printer friendly recipe here.

We also made mini Lemon Berry Trifles, Pistacio cake, and mini Coconut Cream pies.

It was a great party!  Happy BDay Sis!

:)