CAKES AND COBBLERS

Pumpkin Orange Poppy Seed Cake (from the Libby recipe site)

Here is a simple but elegant and delicious cake. Moist and with just the right touch of citrus this pumpkin creation studded with poppy seeds is as pretty as it is tasty.

Estimated Times:
Preparation - 7 min | Cooking - 35 min | Yields - 18 servings

Ingredients:

1 pkg. (18.25 oz.) yellow cake mix
1 can (15 oz.) LIBBY'S 100% Pure Pumpkin
3 large eggs
2/3 cup orange juice
1/4 cup poppy seeds
1 recipe glaze, follows

Directions:
PREHEAT oven to 350° F. Grease and flour 12-cup Bundt pan.

COMBINE cake mix, pumpkin, eggs and orange juice in large mixer bowl. Beat on low speed until moistened. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Add poppy seeds; mix until blended. Pour into prepared Bundt pan.

BAKE for 35 to 40 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in cake comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes; remove to wire rack to cool completely. Drizzle with Glaze.

FOR GLAZE
COMBINE 1 1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar and 2 to 3 tablespoons orange juice in small bowl; stir until smooth.

PUNCH BOWL CAKE

This cake feeds a crowd and fills a punch bowl to boot! It is on the order of an English Trifle, but instead of sponge cake, regular cake is used. Looks pretty because of the layers that show through the punch bowl. Make ahead and put the cake in the refrigerator for at least several hours before serving for the flavors to blend.

Meanwhile mix up pudding mix. After cake is completely cooled, cut into 1/2. Now cut or crumble 1/2 of the cake into the bottom of the punch bowl in about 1 inch pieces or so. Layer on 1/2 of the pudding, 2 sliced bananas (1/4-1/2 inch pieces), 1 can of cherry pie filling, 1/2 of the crushed pineapple, 1/2 of the toasted nuts, and 1/2 of the whipped topping. Do another layer with the remainder, (cake, pudding, bananas, pie filling, pineapple, whipped topping and nuts) ending with the whipped topping and a few sprinkles of the toasted pecans. Serve with a long handled spoon, so people can reach down and get all the layers of goodness. This can store in the refrigerator for 4 days, if you have leftovers.

PEANUT BUTTER FUDGE CAKE
Ok, this one tastes more like a peanut butter fudge brownie. The cake is really chocolately, dense, moist and wonderful with the special frostings. I suggest that you cut into small pieces as it is REALLY rich, but oh, so good! This recipe is from "Ruby Ann's Down Home Trailer Park Cookbook." The cookbook itself is a hoot, but it also has some great recipes.

In saucepan combine margarine, cocoa, water, buttermilk and eggs. Stir mixture constantly over low heat until it bubbles. Mix sugar, flour and soda. Stir the hot mixture (above) into the dry mixture. Beat until smooth. Stir in the vanilla. Pour into a greased and floured 9 X 13 in cake pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until it is puffed and firm to touch in the center. While cake is still just a little bit warm, spread 1 c. of peanut butter over the top. (The recipe called for 1 1/2 c. of peanut butter plus 1 1/2 tbl. peanut oil creamed together, but if you put the peanut butter on while the cake is still a bit warm, it spreads well and you don't need the peanut oil. Anyway, I did not have any.)

Bring the butter, buttermilk and cocoa to a boil. Add in one pound of powdered sugar and 1 tsp. of vanilla and beat until smooth. Spread over the peanut butter topping.

STRAWBERRY SOUR CREAM PIE
I made this for a church potluck. It was great! Everyone liked it. And with the limited ingredients, and the simple method used, I loved it too!
1 unbaked 9 inch pastry shell (get a deep dish pie shell version if possible -- or plan on two smaller 9 inch pies)
1 quart fresh strawberries
1 1/2 c. sugar
1 c. flour
1 c. sour cream
1/4 tsp. salt
2 tbl. sugar (reserved)

Preheat over to 450 degrees (important). Sort, rinse, stem, and halve berries (quarter them if they are huge). Place berries evenly in a pastry shell. Mix together the sugar, flour and salt. Add in the sour cream and stir well. Pour mixture over the berries and spread out evenly. Sprinkle reserved (2 tbl.) of sugar over the top of the pie. Bake for 10 minutes at 450 degrees. Reduce oven temp. to 350 degrees and bake for another 30 minutes or until golden brown.

If you don't use a deep dish pie crust you may have to use two of the regular pie crusts. This recipe dates back to WWII per the woman who submitted it to the magazine.

CARROT CAKE with CREAMED CHEESE FROSTING
(This is a favorite cake of mine that I make. I have friends who request I bring this to special events.)

2 C. flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 c. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 c. of oil ** (I substitute 3/4 c. natural applesauce and 3/4 c. oil)
4 eggs
1 can (8 1/4 oz.) crushed pineapple, drained (save the juice for making Jell-o later)
2 c. shredded carrots
1 c. chopped nuts (opt.)
1 c. raisons (opt.)

Mix first six ingredients together, stir in oil (or applesauce) and eggs. Add pineapple, carrots, nuts and raisons. Mix completely. Pour into a well-greased 9 X 13 inch cake pan (Pam spray works well also). Bake for 350 degrees for 60-65 minutes. Cool.

Cream together with electric mixer the cream cheese and butter, add in vanilla, and slowing add in the powdered sugar. Mix with electric mixer until completely blended. Frost cooled cake.

Mexican Cobbler
10 flour tortillas
1 can peach pie filling (mashed)
1 1/2 sticks of margarine or butter
1 1/2 c. of sugar
1 tsp vanilla
cinnamon

Mash peach pie filling (I also did a batch with apple pie filling over the weekend), and spread the pie filling of your choice the flour tortillas and roll up. Place in a casserole dish (one layer is best as they brown better). Melt the butter in a saucepan, add sugar and vanilla and mix together. Pour over syrup over tortillas and then sprinkle with cinnamon on top. Bake for 30-40 minutes at 350 degrees.

I found that the sauce made enough (I thought) for two batches of the cobbler. I think that you might be able to also cut down on the amount of margarine. It is good and rich and different. I took this dish out to a surprise 40th birthday party and several people requested the recipe.

PRIZE WINNING VOLCANO CAKE
(Son, Mark, won a prize for this cake at a Boy Scouts Cake Bake. We had SO much fun making this together. So, if you need a conversation type cake for another event or birthday party-- try this one.)

Bake in a greased domed bowl (I used the large batter bowl from Pampered chef as it is glass and is bakeable). It took quite awhile to bake this about 60 plus minutes, just keep checking the center till it is done. Cool and invert on your plate.

Mix up a large batch of Crisco cake decorators frosting. Leave a small batch white and do the rest in chocolate.

FROSTING:
2 or more cups of Crisco,
One stick of butter,
1 tsp. of vanilla or almond flavoring and
lots of powered sugar until you reach that spreadable, creamy texture.)

Frost the entire cake with the chocolate frosting. Put the blob of white frosting on the top of the cake (for the snow on the mountain).

Next the "lava":
In a small saucepan put in 1 cup white sugar, 1/2 cup corn syrup, 1/4 c. water and add in red food coloring. Boil until it reaches 295 degrees on a candy thermometer. Cool 1-2 minutes. Next drizzle with a spoon over cookie sheets that you have covered in tin foil. Make all kinds of swirls and lines. These will harden in several minutes. (This is the basic recipe for lollipops minus the flavorings.) Then you pull off the "lava" and place it on the cake. Have long strips go down the sides and some of the blobs be the pooled lava at the base of the cake. Add plenty of lava coming out of the top of the snow covered mountain.