Buttermilk Back-to-School Cake
School is virtual this year, so instead of anticipating packing new school supplies, finding a new classroom, and meeting new friends, we’re navigating online class passwords, connectivity challenges, and learning how to avoid accidentally un-muting at the wrong time.
Back-to-school cake is needed now more than ever. It’s been chocolate in prior years, but this moist, delicious buttermilk cake is more to Leo’s taste.
For a chocolate cake, substitute cocoa powder for 1/2 cup of the flour.
Chocolate Back-to-School Cake
Our son started Kindergarten this year, and I was excited to adopt a tradition of Joanna Goddard’s – celebrating the beginning of the school year with a cake.
This single-layer 8-inch square cake serves a small family a treat the night before school starts with enough leftover for the next night as well. It’s an easy recipe to make on a weeknight and is absolutely delicious. Rainbow sprinkles add a sweet touch of celebration.
For a non-chocolate option, try Buttermilk Back-to-School Cake.
Jamy’s Apple Crumb Cake
Apple desserts aren’t always my favorite (I’ll choose chocolate every time), but this apple crumb cake is sooooo good. It has quite a few components (shortbread base, thinly sliced apples, custardy sauce, and crumb topping) and is a labor of love, but it’s a special dessert that’s worth the work.
Serve with a German Riesling.
Grandma’s Italian Cream Cake
This white cake made with buttermilk, coconut, pecans, and cream cheese frosting is my mother’s favorite. She recently found Grandma’s hand-written recipe – Grandma always served an Italian Cream Cake at the family’s Thanksgiving feast.
Pumpkin Gingersnap Cheesecake
This cheesecake, with a gingersnap crust, pumpkin filling, and salted caramel sauce, is a beautiful holiday dessert, and serves enough to take to a party.
Chai Latte Cupcakes
These dairy-free cupcakes are spiced with tea, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, cloves, and pepper.
Chocolate Cupcakes with Ginger & Orange
These look like simple chocolate cupcakes, but they have their secrets. Mixing the batter, which contains baking soda and vinegar, brings back joyful memories of elementary school science project volcanoes. Your first bite reveals the flavors of orange and ginger, which complement the chocolate and add a bit of exotic personality. And they’re dairy- and egg-free, which makes them the perfect treat to share with vegan friends.
Jan’s Chocolate Sheet Cake
This chocolate sheet cake is the perfect dish to bring to a family potluck.
Mom’s Strawberry Cake
One weekend while we were sharing a house with our roommate, Randy, Mom came to visit and brought this super-moist pink cake. We all loved it, and several months later Randy asked if we could get the recipe and make another one.
Start with strawberry cake made from a boxed mix, soak it with a mixture of condensed milk and coconut milk, and top it with whipped cream.