Red, White, and Blue Trifle

We have been calling this “Loyalist Trifle” since trifle is really an English dessert. But what better way to say “Happy 4th of July!” for us Anglophiles than to make trifle—however nontraditional my recipe may be. Note: I don’t own a traditional trifle dish, so I used a straight-sided glass bowl that is about the same size and volume. You may need to make adjustments to the recipe according to the size of your bowl. […]

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How-To: Making Chiffon Cake

Have you ever tried Chiffon cake? It’s a very light, airy foam cake akin to Angel Food Cake that is made with flour, sugar, vegetable oil, and eggs. (Angel Food Cake is made without oil or egg yolks.) Chiffon cake is very versatile–you can fill it, frost it, freeze it, forget about it for a few days, and it tastes great. I made this Chiffon cake months and months ago and realized I never posted […]

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The Peanut Butter Ice Cream Cake Disaster

My son turned two last Saturday. Because we had a heat wave that week, there was no way I was turning on the oven to make him a cake. I felt inspired by Aran’s post about the ice cream cakes she made recently for a birthday. Um, yeah. My cake had nothin’ on hers. (Seriously–go over and see them. She is so amazing!) This is what I ended up with: Oh, yeah, it sort of […]

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Chocolate Mint Cake with White Chocolate Mint Ganache Filling and Chocolate Fudge Icing

Chocolate Mint Cake with White Chocolate Ganache Filling | CafeJohnsonia.com

This chocolate mint cake features layers of tender dark chocolate cake, white chocolate ganache filling, and a rich chocolate fudge icing. Chocolate and mint lovers…this one’s for you! My dear, dear friend just had a baby. Another friend and I took dinner to her. My assignment was dessert. I remembered my friend telling me that she really wanted me to make her a Chocolate Mint Layer Cake for her next birthday. I thought, “Why not […]

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Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake | Cafejohnsonia.com

A new version of my Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake made with a doctored cake mix and filled with a delicious, easy-to-make peanut butter mousse, and frosted with rich fudge icing. I can never quite decide how I want to make this Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake. As there are no written laws, it make baking all the more fun. It’s very hard to go wrong with the classic peanut butter and chocolate combo, am I right? […]

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Baking 101: Making the Perfect Devil’s Food Cake

Okay, okay. This is where I get sort of bossy. In order to make a really, really, really good cake, you MUST have a stand mixer. Did you get that? MUST. It doesn’t have to be this one that I love so dearly. But, you should really invest in one. If I had a king size bed, I would nestle it between me and my husband, lean over and snuggle it all night long. If […]

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Chocolate Cake with White Chocolate Mint Filling and Whipped Ganache

A Minty Variation on Hershey’s “Perfectly Chocolate” Cake Ingredients: 2 cups white sugar 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour 3/4 cup Hershey’s cocoa 2 tsp. baking soda 1 tsp. baking powder 1 tsp. salt 2 tsp. vanilla extract 2 eggs 1 cup buttermilk 1 cup very hot water 1/2 cup vegetable oil White Chocolate Mint Filling (recipe below) Whipped Ganache Icing (recipe below) 1 package of Andes Mints, chopped, for the top (optional) Heat oven to […]

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