things to do with cake mixes
Regina Murphy
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Even though it’s often cheaper to make cakes from scratch, cake mixes sure do save time.
Lately they seem to be on sale a lot, too, so I looked up some recipes that can be made with a cake mix.
Your basic cake mix can be a fruit-loaded bread for breakfast, make chocolate and peanut butter chip cookies or serve as a topping for cobblers. All of these recipes came from various Internet share sites.
The 9-ounce box of Jiffy cake mix provides the perfect amount for this cobbler. If you want to, substitute half a standard-sized box of cake mix, or double everything else. Any fruit will work.
EASY PEACH COBBLER
1 pkg. Jiffy yellow cake mix
1 large can peaches
1 pint blueberries
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Combine peaches and blueberries in a medium bowl and spread them in the bottom of a baking dish that has been sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Sprinkle the cake mix over the top and drizzle the butter over it. Sprinkle with the chopped pecans and bake for 40 to 50 minutes.
SWEET BANANA BREAD
1 spice cake mix
3 bananas, mashed
3 eggs
1/2 cup nuts or raisins, finely chopped (optional)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients together until smooth. Divide batter between two greased bread pans. Bake 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in top of bread comes out clean. You can bake as muffins if preferred.
BANANA NUT COOKIES
1 white, yellow or spice cake mix
2 eggs
1/3 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup applesauce
1 large banana, mashed
3/4 cup walnuts or pecans, chopped
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix everything except the banana and nuts together until smooth. Fold in bananas and nuts. Drop dough balls onto lightly greased cookie sheet and bake 9 to 12 minutes or until golden brown around the edges. Remove cookies to a rack to cool.
APPLE COBBLER
2 cans apple pie filling
1 tsp. lemon juice
1 box yellow cake mix
1 cup chopped nuts
1 Tbsp. butter
Melt butter and mix with the cake mix and set aside. This will be crumbly. Mix the pie filling and lemon juice together and pour into a baking dish. Sprinkle the cake mix over the filling and top with chopped nuts. Bake at 375 for about 35 minutes or until the topping is golden brown.
COCO-NANA CAKE
1 3/4 cups Devil’s Food cake mix
3/4 cup miniature semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts, if desired
2/3 cup water
1/2 cup mashed banana
2 Tbsp. oil
1 egg
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients except 1/4 cup of the chocolate chips in a bowl and whisk well for about one minute. Spread batter evenly in an ungreased 8-inch square cake pan. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup chocolate chips.
Bake for 30 to 40 minutes until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool before serving.
7-Up CAKE
1 yellow cake mix
3/4 cup vegetable oil
10 oz. 7-Up
1 package instant vanilla pudding
4 eggs
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
1/2 cup margarine
1 cup crushed pineapple
1 cup coconut
2 eggs
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine the cake mix, oil, 7-Up, pudding and eggs in a bowl, mixing well. Divide batter between two greased and floured 9-inch round cake pans. Bake according to package directions, approximately 25 to 30 minutes.
To make the icing, combine the sugar, flour, margarine, pineapple, coconut and eggs together in a medium sauce pan. Cook until it has the consistency of thick gravy. Spread over one cake layer, top with second layer; frost second layer.
COOKIE CRISPIES
1 pkg. yellow cake mix
1/2 cup oil
1/4 cup water
1 large egg
3 cups fruit-flavored or cocoa sweetened rice cereal
Preheat oven to 350 degree. Beat cake mix, oil, water and egg in large bowl with wooden spoon until well blended. Add cereal; mix well. Drop tablespoonfuls of dough, two inches apart, onto ungreased baking sheets.
Bake 11 min. or just until cookies begin to brown. Cool on wire racks. Makes about four dozen.
LEMON-CREAM CHEESE CUPCAKES
1 pkg. white cake mix
1 pkg. JELL-O Lemon Flavor Instant Pudding & Pie Filling
1 cup water
4 egg whites
2 Tbsp. oil
1 pkg. (16 oz.) powdered sugar
1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat cake mix, dry pudding mix, water, egg whites and oil in large bowl with electric mixer on low speed until moistened. (Batter will be thick.) Beat on medium speed 2 min. Spoon batter evenly into 24 paper-lined 2-1/2-inch muffin cups.
Bake 20 to 25 min. or until wooden toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool in pans 10 minutes; remove to wire racks. Cool completely.
Meanwhile, beat sugar, cream cheese, butter and juice with electric mixer on low speed until well blended. Frost cupcakes and serve, perhaps with a wafer-thin slice of lemon twist on top.
Have you seen the new “Community Connections” catalog from Flint Hills Technical College? There are all kinds of classes available for anyone who wants to take them, from one-session cooking or computer courses to multiple-session knitting and house repair courses. I’m teaching some of the cooking classes, but there are marvelous classes from Tracey Graham, Lacey Whetstone, and Bonnie Starr. If you’d like to know more call Rachael LeClear at 620-341-1372 or e-mail rleclear@fhtc.edu.
Next week we’ll have some more “limited ingredient” recipes. Your challenge for the following week involves a very popular vegetable this time of year. You may have thought that planting five hills of squash was a good idea last May, but what do you think now? Got squash coming out your ears? What kind of recipes do you have to help use up or preserve this delicious gourd?
Send them in to murphysmenu@yahoo.com, or 517 Merchant St., Emporia, 66801. The deadline is September 4. Let’s Get Cooking!