What a great time to be from Kansas City. After clinching the World Series, the entire city is united in fun. It took thirty years for our local team to win the World Series, so the excitement is Over The Moon! The entire city is painted blue!
Add to this, it is unseasonable warm. The fall landscape is painted in bright sunshine and BLUE skies. It is a happy time here, for sure. [Read more…]
Get out your slow cooker. It is time to bake!
Yes, you read that correctly—bake in your slow cooker. Fall means it is time to get in the kitchen and bake! And we will show you how–with recipes galore and mixes for those that prefer. Best of all, the cake you bake will taste wonderful!
Our new cookbook is filled with delicious and easy desserts that are ideal for fall baking. One of my favorites is the Cider Glazed Apple Walnut Cake. Then again, there are bread puddings–warm from the slow cooker and topped with sauce. Or maybe this is the weekend for a warm and gooey fondue or a Praline Pumpkin Cheesecake. It is all in the book –making it hard to choose which to try first. And slow cooker cakes are moist–so they freeze beautifully, which means you can get a jump on holiday baking. The cookbook is available at your local bookstore, or all of those on-line sources, like Amazon. A link to the on-line sources is here.
If you and your friends are going to War Eagle (the huge craft fair in northern Arkansas) next weekend, Oct. 15-18, please stop by our booth. We would love to talk about baking in a slow cooker with you. We will have the book on hand and would be happy to autograph it for you. What a great gift that would make!
What else will be in our booth? It will be well stocked with all of our new Slow Cooker Cake Mixes. We will be sharing samples and believe us when we say—tasting is believing!
We are thrilled to announce three new flavors of our Slow Cooker Cake Mixes for this fall.
• Key Lime Cheesecake
• Banoffee Bread—banana bread flavored with chocolate and toffee
• Triple Chocolate Fudge Cake
Plus our original flavors:
• Classic Vanilla Cheesecake with Chocolate Ganache
• Ultimate Carrot Cake
So, how do you bake a cake in a Crock Pot? Easy, and the method is the same whether you choose to bake one of the mixes or one of the cake recipes from our new book.
First—just do it! Amazing desserts await you!
Select a large slow cooker. Round or oval, 5, 6 or 7 quarts.
Then, get a pan. Baking in a pan makes beautiful cakes! You can easily lift them in and out of the slow cookers and they are perfect for serving. No, you do not need a pan for fondue, candy, or pudding recipes, but we recommend a pan for the cakes and cheesecakes.
A 7-inch springfrom pan fits in all large round or oval slow cookers and works beautifully with any of the cake recipes or any of the mixes. An 8½ x 4½ inch loaf pan fits in the large oval slow cookers and is great for banoffee bread, triple chocolate fudge cake and carrot cake but is not recommended for cheesecakes. (Purchase the pan at your local kitchen shop or from us –at the fair or on line.)
Do not put water in the Crock Pot. Shape a ring out of aluminum foil and place the ring in the slow cooker.
Just prepare the recipe from the cookbook or the mix as directed on the back of the package. For the mixes, you will need to add the eggs, fresh dairy and oil—just like regular cake mixes.
For added easy, line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper or waxed paper. Spray the pan with nonstick cooking spray. Pour the batter into the pan.
Set the filled pan on the aluminum foil ring. Cover and bake—often about 2 to 3 hours on high.
A few tips:
Slow cookers vary by brand; some are hotter and bake more quickly while some bake more slowly. Those purchased in the last 10 years or so are generally hotter and are ideal for baking.
The volume of 7-inch springform pans and 8½ x 4½ loaf pans vary by brand. Double check that the pan you are using fits into your slow cooker before mixing up the batter. If a small amount of cake flows over the top, no need to worry, just trim it off with a sharp knife. If desired, remove 1 to 2 tablespoons of batter from the Banoffee bread prior to baking to insure that it does not over fill the loaf pan.
To remove the baked cake from the pan, run the tip of a table knife around the edges, then remove from the pan.
If your slow cooker bakes more slowly, you may find that occasionally foam or bubbles rise to the top of the carrot cake as it bakes. After the recommended baking time, it may not appear done, but if tested with a wooden pick it comes out clean and is done. Remove the baked cake from the slow cooker, and if desired, gently use a table knife to scrape off the foam.
If you can’t go to War Eagle…..think about ordering our book or the slow cooker cake mixes online and begin creating dessert masterpieces just in time for the holidays! Both would make a great gift. The cakes bake up moist and freeze perfectly, so you can start baking now for the holidays to come. Have a cake ready to serve—or give a baked cake to friends and neighbors as a welcome gift.
So, get started baking in a slow cooker. For more information on the cookbook, visit here, or on the cake mixes, visit here. Either way, you will have great desserts in your future.
Chicken. Same old boring dinner? Not this time.
Just like you, I tire of the same recipes and need something new and different. [Read more…]
The tart and sweet flavor of Key Lime, infused in a creamy cheesecake and topped with lime curd.
Banana bread, moist and comforting, with an over the top flavor of chocolate and toffee.
A rich, dense chocolate cake for chocolate loves, made from not just one type of chocolate, but three, and frosted with still more chocolate.
Make your mouth water?
Ready to bake them? Get out your Crock Pot® (or slow cooker) and…
Drum roll please….these are our three newest flavors of slow cooker cake mixes!!!!!!
We are thrilled to announce that joining our two previous (and popular) slow cooker cake mixes are three new mixes!
These three join our first two flavors:
All are our original recipes, time-tested with years of experience and made easy so you can take all of the credit. The slow, moist heat of the slow cooker bakes cakes that are moist and flavorful. So moist, you can serve them with confidence, give them to friends and neighbors or even freeze them for convenient make-ahead baking.
Now, more breaking news! If you have a large, oval slow cooker (those 6 to 7-quart pots that are so popular now), you can bake your carrot cake, the triple fudge cake and the banoffee bread in a small loaf pan (about 8½ x 4½-inch inches). All of the mixes work beautifully in the 7-inch springform pan, and we continue to sell this small, ideally-sized pan, but if you have a loaf pan that fits in your oval Crock Pot®, these three mixes will work in it, too.
Click here for more info on baking in the slow cooker and our mixes and if you ready to purchase a mix or two, this on-line store makes it easy. Our retail locations are stocking up for fall and holiday baking, and will soon have the new flavors. You will also be able to taste and buy any of the mixes at the War Eagle Fair and the Overland Park Holiday Boutique. If you want to follow along and visit with us at each appearance, we would love to meet you.
We sure wish we could celebrate with you over a champagne toast—or better yet, a slice of cake and coffee or tea. We could not be more excited and thank you for your support.
It used to be we talked about whether it was correct to wear white after Labor Day. Never mind that the store shelves are filled with Halloween (or scarier yet, Christmas) displays. Now, my world seems to buzz about whether it is right to post apple recipes before Labor Day or how many websites or magazines post pumpkin recipes the first week of September.
Are you a fan of butternut squash? It seems most people I know shy away from it. Sure it seems like it would be hard to peel and cooking it seems to be a bit foreign. But it says fall to me and now is the time to break out one of my all-time favorite salads. [Read more…]
