An Aspiring Gourmet Chef: Delicious Paula Deen Desserts Y'all!

I recently cooked up a yummy mother's day lunch for my mom and aunt and blogged about the results (not to brag, but I got lots of compliments - yea!!). I did however leave out the dessert recipes because I cooked up so many things, and would like to share them with you now. Two delicious desserts, both from southern cooking sensation, Mrs. Paula Deen! The first one I would like to share with you is her strawberry cake. :)

Ingredients

1 (18.25-ounce) box white cake mix
1 (3-ounce) box strawberry-flavored instant gelatin
1 (15-ounce) package frozen strawberries in syrup, thawed and pureed
4 large eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup water
Strawberry cream cheese frosting, recipe follows
Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 (10-ounce) package frozen strawberries in syrup, thawed and pureed
1/2 teaspoon strawberry extract
7 cups confectioners' sugar
Freshly sliced strawberries, for garnish, optional

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease 2 (9-inch) round cake pans.

In a large bowl, combine cake mix and gelatin. Add pureed strawberries, eggs, oil, and water; beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Pour into prepared pans, and bake for 20 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Let cool in pans for 10 minutes. Remove from pans, and cool completely on wire racks.

For the frosting:

In a large bowl, beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Beat in 1/4 cup of the strawberry puree and the vanilla extract. (The rest of the puree is leftover but can be used in smoothies or on ice cream for a delicious treat.) Gradually add confectioners' sugar, beating until smooth.

Spread frosting in between layers and on top and sides of cake. Garnish with sliced fresh strawberries, if desired.

This dessert is absolutely amazing, but I did make a couple of major modifications. I read lots of reviews on the recipe and cooked this cake and played with the recipe several times before I made it for this event. First of all, don't use frozen strawberries in syrup - use fresh strawberries! Just puree them in the blender and then add sugar to them for added sweetness: 1-2 tablespoons for the cake recipe, a teaspoon for the frosting. Also, you will notice from the recipe, that you only are supposed to use a 1/4 cup of the strawberry puree in the strawberry frosting - don't puree up a whole 15 ounces unless you want to use it for something else. Another note for this recipe: you will notice that in the ingredient list for the icing, Paula lists strawberry extract. In the recipe directions, she says to use vanilla extract. I make mine with strawberry extract, and it is amazing. The other major thing you need to modify in this recipe is the cook time - 20 minutes is not near enough! I bake mine for 25 minutes and it comes out perfect! If you make these easy changes, this recipe is really unbelievable, I have gotten so many compliments on this cake. I actually had this for the first time at my bridal shower in cupcake form at one of my favorite restaurants. The chef said she couldn't give me the recipe, but winked and told me to google Paula Deen's strawberry cake. I did as soon as I got home and have made it at least a dozen times since then. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

The second dessert recipe I would like to share with you is Paula Deen's peach cobbler recipe, only I converted it to a blackberry cobbler recipe! I have made the peach version many times and it is AMAZING! That is how I knew making it with blackberries would also be delicious! With the abundance of fresh blackberries this time of year, I couldn't resist making a cobbler made of fresh picked blackberries!

Ingredients

4 cups peeled, sliced peaches
2 cups sugar, divided
1/2 cup water
8 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
1 1/2 cups milk
Ground cinnamon, optional

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine the peaches, 1 cup sugar, and water in a saucepan and mix well. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat.

Put the butter in a 3-quart baking dish and place in oven to melt.

Mix remaining 1 cup sugar, flour, and milk slowly to prevent clumping. Pour mixture over melted butter. Do not stir. Spoon fruit on top, gently pouring in syrup. Sprinkle top with ground cinnamon, if using. Batter will rise to top during baking. Bake for 30 to 45 minutes.

To serve, scoop onto a plate and serve with your choice of whipped cream or vanilla ice cream

Obviously the major change I made to this was subbing blackberries for peaches. Also, please note, when she says to mix the sugar, flour, and milk slowly to prevent clumping, she means to first mix the flour and sugar and then to add the milk little by little and mix - not to literally add it slowly. That may be obvious to you, but I didn't figure it out until about my 10th time making it and could not for the life of me figure out why my batter would always bake with so many clumps in it. One more thing, the cook time is pretty broad, 30-45 minutes. I cook mine for 45 minutes. This dish is amazing and I know you will enjoy it. I have made it with blackberries, peaches, and blueberries, and it turn out great every time.