Gooey Butter Cake

My blog seems to have turned into Dessert Central lately. While I didn't want to post yet another sweet treat, it just happens to be a special occasion — my husband and baby daddy's 33rd birthday.

And he's a special guy, so for his birthday I made one of his favorites — Gooey Butter Cake.

Brad is from Kansas and I'm from New Jersey, so we had to be very purposeful when deciding to pursue our relationship. And when he permanently moved to Philadelphia five years ago, I knew I was a lucky girl! We've since gotten married and had a beautiful baby girl. He's supported me in amazing ways over those years — most recently as my "labor and delivery support person" (at least that's what the hospital bracelet he had to wear called it). He was so great in the delivery room that the nurses and doctor asked him what birth classes we took (shhh, we didn't take any classes!). And I just love watching him with Katy — she lights up when she hears or sees her daddy!

Rhubarb Snacking Cake

I've already mentioned that I love me some rhubarb. And there's no better time than now to get in on the action while it's still in season. This rhubarb snacking cake is a great way to feature the unique, tart flavor, and I dig it!

I looked up rhubarb on wikipedia to get the low down. I was very interested to read this: "Rhubarb is usually considered to be a vegetable; however, in the U.S., a New York court decided in 1947 that since it was used in the U.S. as a fruit, it was to be counted as a fruit for the purposes of regulations and duties. A side effect was a reduction on imported rhubarb tariffs, as tariffs were higher for vegetables than fruits." Sorry, was that nerdy of me to find interesting?

I saw this recipe in a post from Smitten Kitchen. It caught my eye because she talked about how she took Martha's recipe, cut the cake portion in half, upped the amount of rhubarb, and threw more crumb on top.

YES. This is my kind of a recipe.

All-American Flag Cake

In a city where the Fourth of July is celebrated from June 24th through July 4th, you might imagine that we take the holiday pretty seriously. Let's just say that there are at least three nights of fireworks, food and all-you-can eat ice cream events, parades, festivals, and free concerts (hello Aaron Neville, Philly Pops, Sara Bareilles, The Roots, BOYZ II MEN — swoon! I'm 13 again! — Michael McDonald, and Earth, Wind, and Fire!). It's a lot to live up to!

This year I wanted to find a festive dessert but didn't want to go the usual route of raspberry and blueberry rows on top of a cake or tart. Instead I came across a fun idea in my Googling and decided to run with it.

White cake on the outside, maybe jazzed up with a little red, white, and blue sprinkle action.

And then on the inside? That's the part that you don't tell people about. Just let them find it when they cut a slice...

Martha Stewart would totally stick a few sparklers in this puppy. 

Cranberry Coffee Cake

Before I go any further, please learn this one thing from my blog: It's a good sign when recipes for cakes/cookies have sour cream in the ingredients list. It just really is! Moving on...

I told you I like cranberries — and I suspect that this won't be the last cranberry post of the season! Once again I found myself with a couple bags of Jersey cranberries and thought I might use them to try a new recipe. I also thought that the folks in my department would appreciate it at the staff meeting the next morning.

A lovely cup of tea — thanks for the mugs, Ash!

How would I describe the end result? Well, as Brad and his two brothers might have said when they were little boys, it was a big, hurkin' cake! It looked huge as it puffed up well beyond the side of my 9x13" pan, and this thing was heavy to carry too! But somehow the cake was still light, moist, and delicious! 

Summer Squash Cake

I know, I know. You're probably thinking, "Enough of your veggie-filled sweet treats!"

But I need you to trust me that this "loaf cake" (as Martha calls it) is freakin amazing delicious. It has a very unique flavor, as most of the breads/cakes that I've made with veg tend to have a spicy flavor (i.e. cinnamon, nutmeg). However this cake's flavor is sweet and moist and has a hint of pistachio and fennel seed.

And can I just put it out there that I do.not.like yellow squash. Can't eat the stuff. Don't like the taste; can't stand the smell.

The recipe comes from Martha, one of my favs, and is called Two-Colored Squash Loaf Cake. Martha, darling, please don't be offended, but the name of your recipe leaves something to be desired. You're already messing with people by throwing a whole lot of squash into a cake. Perhaps a friendlier name (i.e., one that doesn't have the word "loaf" in it) is more suitable? That's my only complaint — and I've taken it upon myself to rename the recipe.

Easy-as-Pie Apple Cake

This recipe is as easy as it gets, and it's quite delicious! We're not quite into apple season yet, but the granny smiths (my apple of choice for this recipe) were cheap and I couldn't resist.

The recipe came from my mom who got it from someone named Donna — and that's all the information I have about its origins. I did, however, come up with the name all by myself...I'm just sayin. This cake is a tasty treat to follow a meal (maybe with a cup of tea or coffee). And this morning at work, I passed it off as breakfast food — so it's versatile too!

Blueberry Cruffins

What's a cruffin? A word that Brad created for this recipe, which is for blueberry "crumb muffins." It works. This treat started with an Ina Garten recipe for Blueberry Crumb Cake, which I decided to make into individual servings — hence the cruffin. It's a lovely recipe for this time of year when berry season is inching closer (although you can use frozen blueberries as well).