Easy Bake Oven White Cake and Frosting Mixes

Here's another cake mix recipe that we made to go along with a Christmas present. They are so cute packaged in 4-ounce (stage 2) baby food jars topped with a 5-inch fabric circle and tied with raffia or ribbon. You could replace the shortening in the recipes with softened butter, but you would have to keep your mixes stored in the refrigerator.

White Cake Mix
1 cup sugar
1 ½ cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1/3 cup shortening
In a medium bowl, combine sugar, flour, baking soda, salt, and drink mix. Stir with a wire whisk until blended. With a pastry blender, cut in shortening until evenly distributed. Spoon about 1/3 cup of the mixture into each of 11 small containers or zipper bags and seal tightly. Label with date and contents. Store in a cool, dry place. Use within 12 weeks. Yield: 10 packets White Cake Mix. Individual mixes fit nicely in 4 ounce (stage 2) baby food jars.
White Cake from mix
1 packet White Cake Mix
4 teaspoons milk (or water)
Preheat Easy Bake Oven 15 minutes (regular oven 350F). In a small bowl, combine cake mix and milk (or water). Stir with a fork or spoon until well blended and smooth. Pour mixture into greased and floured cake pan. Bake for 12-15 minutes. Remove from oven and cool in pan on a rack for 5 minutes. Invert onto a small plate and remove pan. Yield: 2 cakes.

White Frosting Mix
2 cups powdered sugar
3 Tablespoons instant nonfat milk powder
6 Tablespoons shortening
In a medium bowl, combine powdered sugar and milk powder. With a pastry blender, cut in shortening until evenly distributed. Spoon about 1/3 cup of the mixture into each of 8 small containers or zipper bags and seal tightly. Label with date and contents. Store in a cool, dry place. Use within 12 weeks. Yield: 8 packets. Each packet frosts a 2 layer cake. Individual mixes fit nicely in 4 ounce (stage 2) baby food jars.
White Frosting from mix
1 packet White Frosting Mix
2-3 teaspoons water
1/8 teaspoon vanilla, optional
In a small bowl, combine frosting mix and water. Stir well with a spoon until smooth and creamy. Add vanilla, if desired. Frosts a 2 layer cake.

Homemade Hot Cocoa Mix

The chill in the air must mean it's hot cocoa season! 

Hot Cocoa Mix
2 1/2 cups powdered milk
2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup cocoa
2 teaspoons corn starch
1/2 to 1 teaspoon salt
Combine all ingredients, and process in a food processor (I used my Vita Mix on variable 5 or 6.) until well-blended. (This recipe fits pretty well in a one-quart canning jar-especially if you make a cup or two first.)
To make hot cocoa, stir together one part mix with two parts hot water or milk.

Happy Birthday, Jesus! Easy Bake Oven Cake

During Sunday's Advent devotion, our family used the recipes for Pretty Pink Princess/Green Monster Cake and frosting that I shared recently here and made a birthday cake for Jesus with inspiration from Lisa Whelchel's book, "The ADVENTure of Christmas".

First, we made one recipe of red cake. The red represents the blood of Jesus.

Next, we made one recipe of green cake. The green represents eternal life through Him.

Then, we made the frosting recipe and tinted it with yellow food coloring to represent the birthday of the Son of Righteousness.

We placed one yellow birthday candle in the center of the cake to represent Jesus as the center of our lives.

Finally, we added four candles (three blue and one pink) like an advent wreath. You could also use one candle for each member of the family to represent each person's life revolving around Jesus.

Then we sang "Happy Birthday" to Jesus! What a fun way to end an advent devotion (or a meaningful way to celebrate on Christmas morning).

Easy Bake Oven Chocolate Cake and Frosting Mixes

We've been having lots of fun preparing Easy Bake Oven mixes for Christmas gifts. We tried a popular cake mix recipe which calls for adding water to the prepared mix. While that will yield an edible cake, I found that we got better results when we prepared the mix with milk instead. These mixes look nice for gift-giving when sealed in 4-ounce (stage 2) baby food jars topped with a 5-inch fabric circle secured with ribbon, twine, or raffia.

You can see the difference in the way the cakes turn out based on whether you choose to use milk or water when preparing the mix. The cakes made with water are on the left and the cakes made with milk are on the right. You can also see a difference in the frosting on each cake. The cakes on the left have frosting prepared without vanilla. The ones on the right tasted much better since we made that frosting with the vanilla.

Chocolate Cake Mix1 cup sugar
3 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
1 ½ cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1/3 cup shortening
In a medium bowl, combine sugar, cocoa, flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir with a wire whisk until blended. With a pastry blender, cut in shortening until evenly distributed. Spoon about 1/3 cup of the mixture into each of 11 small containers or zipper bags and seal tightly. Label with date and contents. Store in a cool, dry place. Use within 12 weeks. Yield: 10 packets Chocolate Cake Mix. Individual mixes fit nicely in 4 ounce (stage 2) baby food jars.
Chocolate Cake from mix
1 packet Chocolate Cake Mix
4 teaspoons milk (or water)
Preheat Easy Bake Oven 15 minutes (regular oven 350F). In a small bowl, combine cake mix and milk (or water). Stir with a fork or spoon until well blended and smooth. Pour mixture into greased and floured cake pan. Bake for 12-15 minutes. Remove from oven and cool in pan on a rack for 5 minutes. Invert onto a small plate and remove pan. Yield: 2 cakes.

Chocolate Frosting Mix
2 cups powdered sugar
3 Tablespoons instant nonfat milk powder
½ cup cocoa
6 Tablespoons shortening
In a small bowl combine powdered sugar, milk powder and cocoa. With a pastry blender, cut in shortening until evenly distributed. Spoon about 1/3 cup of the mixture into each of 9 small containers or zipper bags and seal tightly. Label with date and contents. Store in a cool, dry place. Use within 12 weeks. Yield: 8 packets. Each packet frosts a 2 layer cake. Individual mixes fit nicely in 4 ounce (stage 2) baby food jars. (This mix can be prepared with the addition of 1 teaspoon powdered vanilla, which would eliminate the need for added vanilla when mixing up the frosting.)
Chocolate Frosting from mix
1 packet Chocolate Frosting Mix
2/3 teaspoons water
1/8 teaspoon vanilla, optional
In a small bowl, combine frosting mix and water. Stir well with a spoon until smooth and creamy. Add vanilla, if desired. Frosts a 2 layer cake.

Easy Bake Oven Cookie Mix

I've been experimenting with our Easy Bake Oven while making some mixes for a Christmas gift. I've seen this recipe for cookie mix in several places, calling for a short (5 minute) baking time that produces mushy, wet, sloppy cookie blobs, so I've adjusted the baking time for this post. I've also found that you have to be really skimpy with the distribution of the mix if you want to get the eight packages of mix that they claim, so I made seven packages. (Somehow three-and-a-half cups of ingredients doesn't yield the four cups of mix you'd need to divide one-half cupfuls into each of eight packages. Go figure. Sometimes I wonder if people try these recipes before they post them.)

I just love those cute Mason jar cookie mixes, so I used baby food jars for packaging these for giving. A 6-ounce (stage 3) baby food jar works nicely for this recipe. I included the raisins and chocolate chips in the jar and topped each one with a 5-inch fabric circle secured with a small, clear elastic hair band and tied with raffia. The directions for using the mix can be written on a tag or card tied to the jar or adhered directly to the glass using a glue stick.

Cookie Mix
1 ½ cups quick-cooking oats
¾ cup flour
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¾ cup brown sugar
½ cup shortening
In a medium bowl, combine oats, flour, baking soda and brown sugar. Stir to blend. With a pastry blender, cut in shortening until evenly distributed. Spoon ½ cup of the mixture into each of 8 small containers or zipper bags and seal tightly. Label with date and contents. Store in a cool, dry place. Use within 12 weeks. Yield: 7 packages of Cookie Mix. Each package makes 9-12 cookies. Individual mixes fit nicely in 6-ounce (stage 3) baby food jars.
Raisin Chocolate Chip Cookies from mix1 package Cookie Mix
2 teaspoons milk (or water)
1 Tablespoon raisins
1 Tablespoon mini chocolate chips
sugar, optional
Preheat Easy Bake Oven 15 minutes (regular oven 350F). In a small bowl, combine all ingredients, except sugar. Stir with a spoon until mixture holds together in one big ball. Shape one teaspoon of dough at a time into a ball. Arrange on an ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten gently with fingers, lightly sprinkle with a pinch of sugar, if desired. Bake 8-10 minutes. Remove from oven. Cool on a rack. Yield: 9-12 cookies.

Easy Bake Oven Cake

Our family is participating in a program to provide gifts for children who might not otherwise get any this Christmas, and one of the girls we got has asked for an Easy Bake Oven. Her request has generated a renewed interest in our old Easy Bake Oven that's been sitting in our basement for a few years.

I'm sure there will be a lot of these ovens under Christmas trees in a few weeks. So here's a quick, inexpensive alternative to buying the ridiculously overpriced mixes in the toy department:

Pretty Pink Princess Cake (or Green Monster Cake)5 Tablespoons flour
¼ teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
5 teaspoons red (or green) sugar crystals
¼ teaspoon vanilla
4 teaspoons vegetable oil
8 teaspoons milk
Preheat Easy Bake Oven 15 minutes (regular oven 350F). Stir together flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, vanilla, oil, and milk until the batter is smooth and pink (or green). Pour 3 tablespoons of batter into greased and floured cake pan. Bake 15 minutes. Repeat for second layer. Yield: 2 layers.

Frosting
4 teaspoons softened butter or shortening
2/3 cup powdered sugar
¼ teaspoon vanilla
2-3 teaspoons milk
In a small bowl, mix together softened butter (or shortening), powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk until smooth and creamy. Spread 2 teaspoons of frosting on top of 1st layer. Add 2nd layer and continue frosting. Frosts a 2 layer cake.