Layered Raspberry Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Sounds good, doesn't it? Well, it's more than good. It is superb! This recipe was on the paper insert of a 9" stainless steel cake pan (round) recently purchased at Podge, my very favorite kitchen store located in Clarence, NY. The pan was made for NORPRO, a company based in Everett, WA. Recognition for this recipe goes to them. For those of you on Weight Watchers -- beware! One tenth of this cake equals 17 points. That is about 2/3 of one's daily intake, or about 1/2 of your weekly extra points allowance. So you can have your cake and watch your weight too -- you just have to plan for it. Here goes.

Cake Ingredients:
1 cup half-and-half
1/4 cup butter
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
4 eggs
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3 tsp. baking powder

Heat half-and-half in a sauce pan until boiling. Add butter and then set aside. Mix sugar, vanilla and eggs; beat until light and fluffy. Mix together flour and baking powder then add to egg mixture. Add half-and-half mixture. Mix until batter is well blended. Pour batter into a well-greased and floured 9" round cake pan that has sides that are at least 2 inches high. Bake at 350 degrees for 55 to 60 minutes. Cool slightly and remove from pan. When it is sufficiently cool, divide cake into 2 layers. Spread cream cheese filling on top of bottom layer, then spread about 1 cup or less of the raspberry pie filling on top of that. Use enough so that it will be seen and tasted, but not enough so that it would run down the sides when the other layer of cake is placed on top of it. Place the other layer on top, then spread the remaining cream cheese filling on top and sides of cake. Garnish with fresh raspberries if desired.

Cream Cheese Filling Ingredients:
1/2 cup powdered sugar (or more for stiffer consistency)
2 8oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened and whipped
1 pint heavy cream, whipped
1 can raspberry pie filling

Add powdered sugar to cream cheese and whip slowly. Add whipped cream until fluffy.

The original recipe uses 1 pint fresh raspberries with 2 tsp. added sugar, but I thought that the pie filling would be better spread over the cream cheese filling. Yum!

Coconut Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

This was a cake that my mother made often, yet it always felt like a special treat. It is a four egg cake, somewhat dense, but moist and delicious. For some reason it reminds me of Spring, which is why I am posting it now.

Cake Ingredients:
1 cup shortening (I use butter)
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9 x 13 inch oblong cake pan. Cream together shortening (or butter) and sugar. Beat in eggs and vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt and add a little at a time to creamed mixture, alternating with milk. Mix well. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 45 minutes or until cake tests done. Cool before frosting.

Frosting Ingredients:
2 8oz. packages of cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 small bag coconut

Cream together the cream cheese and butter until well blended and very creamy. Add vanilla and mix it in. Then gradually add the confectioners' sugar. When the cake is cool, frost with the cream cheese frosting and then sprinkle a small bag of coconut on top of the frosting.

Refrigerate any leftover cake.