Winstead Wandering

Prone to Wander

Strawberries and Cream Layer Cake

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This Strawberries and Cream Layer Cake combines three dessert favorites –  moist vanilla cake, fluffy cream cheese frosting, and tart strawberries – into one mouthwateringly decadent dessert.

This Strawberries and Cream Layer Cake combines three dessert favorites -  moist vanilla cake, fluffy cream cheese frosting, and tart strawberries - into one mouthwateringly decadent dessert.

Today my five-year-old looks up, as I’m in the kitchen and she’s in the playroom, and casually says, “Mama, I’m jammin’ the wifi.” (<— imagine this is said with the most country Southern accent you’ve ever heard). I’m not sure where my little aspiring hacker comes up with these things, but between her, her big brother, and her little sister, there’s literally never a dull moment. I love it.

Speaking of jamming the wifi. If there was a ever a cake that possessed the power to do just that, it’d be this Strawberries and Cream Layer Cake. This cake can jam wifi, slay dragons, settle feuds, and turn even the crappiest day good. It’s the cake equivalent of laughing baby videos.

This Strawberries and Cream Layer Cake combines three dessert favorites -  moist vanilla cake, fluffy cream cheese frosting, and tart strawberries - into one mouthwateringly decadent dessert.

At first glance, it might seem like an ordinary cake. I use, as usual, a cake mix, but I add a bunch of stuff to fancy it up. Sandwiched between each of the cake layers are gorgeous slices of fresh strawberries and a generous amount of homemade cream cheese frosting. The tender cake and the creamy frosting are uh-mazing on their own, but the addition of the tart berries rockets the whole thing into another stratosphere. Does that sound like hyperbole? Perhaps it is, but ask anyone who’s had a slice of Strawberries and Cream Layer Cake; they’ll vouch for me.

This Strawberries and Cream Layer Cake combines three dessert favorites -  moist vanilla cake, fluffy cream cheese frosting, and tart strawberries - into one mouthwateringly decadent dessert.

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Loaded Candy Bar Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

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Loaded Candy Bar Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting, with homemade frosting and candy bars in every bite, is every chocolate lover’s decadent dream come true.

Loaded Candy Bar Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting, with homemade frosting and candy bars in every bite, is every chocolate lover's decadent dream come true.

This Loaded Candy Bar Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting was my birthday cake pretty much every year when I was growing up. In fact, I love it so much it was my wedding cake, too. My mom was appalled by my choice because, in her words, “It’s such an ugly cake,” but to me, and to all chocolate-lovers out there, it’s a beautiful sight.

Since then, this gorgeous cake has become a staple at many family gatherings. It’s even become a tradition in J’s family. As true lovers of all things chocolate, they recognize a good thing when they see it. His family prefers to use only peanut butter cups, but I’m convinced the original method is best. Really, though, you can’t go wrong when you take a moist chocolate cake, slather it with homemade cream cheese frosting, and finish it off with handfuls of chopped candy bars.

Loaded Candy Bar Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting, with homemade frosting and candy bars in every bite, is every chocolate lover's decadent dream come true.

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Chocolate Caramel Lava Cakes

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Chocolate caramel lava cakes, oozing with molten chocolate and melted caramel, is surprisingly easy to make and sure to satisfy any sweet tooth.

Chocolate caramel lava cakes, oozing with molten chocolate and melted caramel, is surprisingly easy to make and sure to satisfy any sweet tooth.

I say this all the time, but it bears repeating: we don’t keep a lot of junk food in the house. I don’t buy cookies or cakes or ice cream for a couple reasons. Mostly because I’ll eat it if we have it, and we try to be healthier than that. The other reason, though, is I’m kind of a food snob. When you know how to make perfect chocolate chip cookies from scratch, the store bought kind no longer cuts it.

Chocolate caramel lava cakes, oozing with molten chocolate and melted caramel, is surprisingly easy to make and sure to satisfy any sweet tooth.

Here’s the problem: I love to bake. So even though we don’t usually have a pint of ice cream in the freezer or a package of cookies in the cupboard, I have no qualms about whipping up a dessert treat for J and I. Because I love to be in the kitchen, I don’t give a second thought to making a batch of cookies or, in the case of these chocolate caramel lava cakes, experimenting with a new recipe.

Baking is my idea of fun and these individual cakes are my idea of a heaven. The outside is just as baked and cake-like as you’d expect, but the inside… the inside combines two of my favorite flavors, chocolate and caramel, in a warm, melted mass of richness. The recipe takes less than 30 minutes start to finish and is the perfect indulgent treat for any night of the week.

Chocolate caramel lava cakes, oozing with molten chocolate and melted caramel, is surprisingly easy to make and sure to satisfy any sweet tooth.

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chocolate chip pound cake

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This chocolate chip pound cake is a moist, buttery cake, flecked with chocolate chips and baked to perfection.

This chocolate chip pound cake is a moist, buttery cake, flecked with chocolate chips and baked to perfection.

The secretary at my school celebrated her birthday a few weeks ago. I didn’t know about it until the day before, so I scrambled to figure out what kind of sweets she likes. I often bring baked treats into school, and the ladies in the office always rave about them, but I wanted to bake something especially for Ms. Mae.

My recon told me that she “loves chocolate, but not anything too rich.” I knew right away that I wanted to make this chocolate chip pound cake. It’s the perfect combination of moist cake and rich chocolate. It bakes up buttery and light, with just the right amount of sweetness. I thought about adding a glaze, because glazes certainly have their place, but ultimately the cake stands on its own as a simple yet sweet treat. [Read more…]

brown sugar pound cake with caramel icing

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Brown sugar pound cake with caramel icing is a rich, moist cake, flecked with toffee bits and smothered in an easy, decadent caramel sauce.

Brown sugar pound cake with caramel icing is a rich, moist cake, flecked with toffee bits and smothered in an easy, decadent caramel sauce.

Every June, the extended family of J.’s maternal grandfather gathers at the town community center for a reunion. J. and I have been married a while- seven years to the day as I type this!- so I’ve been to a few reunions.

Last year, I brought this brown sugar pound cake. There’s a relative, Ms. Ruth, who, according to the family, doesn’t eat a lot of sweets. She took a slice of cake, though, and she raved about it. And then she took another slice. I heard, from no fewer than three relatives, how great that cake must be for Ms. Ruth to have two pieces.

This year, a couple days before the reunion, I got word that Ms. Ruth wouldn’t be able to make it, but that she was hoping I would make the brown sugar cake again. She promised me some of her famous chocolate-covered peanut butter sandwich crackers in exchange for a slice.

How could I say no to that? I couldn’t, of course, which is how this cake became a family reunion staple.

Brown sugar pound cake with caramel icing is a rich, moist cake, flecked with toffee bits and smothered in an easy, decadent caramel sauce.

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