Thanksgiving dessert ideas

[Rasputin]

Hey there all you happy campers! Fall has already rolled in and the effects can be felt all over my county right now as the leafs fall. Gah! Its already November! Its time to get ready for Thanksgiving and it will be my first time attending one! I'm very -excited! Most of my family celebrates it but I never got the chance before (although I did enjoy those days out of school god bless). Since this will be my first year I deiced to bake for them, because I heard from a cousin that they mostly -BUY their desserts from Kroger or Publix! No! That won't do, I need to make them something with love this year! So I plan to make their favorite: Cherry (No-Bake) Cheese cake x2 and a extra little treat that none of them have had before: Butter Cake.

Now I know the Cherry Cheese cake is a no brainier, I can whip up two in no time flat but this is my first time baking a Butter cake in a bunt pan and I'm just so -excited! I got the recipe while scrolling around tumblr wondering what I would bake.

The recipe calls for;

"200g / 1 Cup Butter (Room Temperature)

300g / 1½ Cups Light Brown Caster/Superfine Sugar

4 Large Eggs (Room Temperature)

380g / 3 Cups Plain Flour

2 Teaspoon Baking Powder

½ Teaspoon Salt

240ml / 1 Cup Milk

2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract

To Garnish:

1 Tablespoon Butter

2 Tablespoons Sugar

Making the Butter Cake:
Preheat the oven to 165C/325F. Lightly grease and line the cake tin. Dust the greased tin with a sprinkling of flour then set aside for later.
In a large mixing bowl add the butter and sugar. Beat for about 5 minutes, until it’s pale and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and mix until well combined. In a separate bowl, sieve in the flour, baking powder and salt.
Alternate adding the milk and the flour a little at a time into the cake mixture. First add some flour, mix, then add some milk, mix again and continue until all the milk and flour has been added, ending with adding flour. This technique is important to make sure the cake has the right texture.
Finally, add the vanilla extract and stir well once again. Pour the cake mixture into the prepared tin and place in the middle of the preheated oven for 60-70 minutes.
Once firm and golden, remove the cake from the oven and leave to cool.

Preparing the Garnish:
Add the butter and sugar to a small saucepan and allow to melt. Don't let it boil!
Once warmed through, and with the cake fresh from the oven, brush the butter over the top of the cake and leave to cool completely before removing from the tin and serving."

Now for the Garnish he made really gives the cake its name but I have a bit of a problem..My family is really closed minded about the food they eat and they might find this cake a bit lackluster and pass it by so instead (or including) the butter/sugar glaze I wanted to mix some equal parts cool whip and vanilla or strawberry frosting and cut 3 fresh strawberries over the top of the cake. What do you think? What should I do with this? Or should I bake a different cake all together? I would hate to butcher this man's perfect recipe just to please my family....

[Claire]

I always have guests, and always assign them desert. This year a friend promises to make pumpkin bread pudding! Does that sound great or what?

[Rasputin]

Originally Posted by Claire

I always have guests, and always assign them desert. This year a friend promises to make pumpkin bread pudding! Does that sound great or what?

OOO it does! I would love to try something like that. Or something nice with pumpkin spice! I have tried pumpkin cheese cake once and it was to die for.

[jabbur]

Rasputin, I would not add frosting or cool whip to this cake. The strawberries though would be a nice touch. I'd halve them and place them in a ring around the base. You can have the whipped cream available for after it's cut but I wouldn't be putting it on before. Have more strawberries in a bowl for adding on top to be kind of like a strawberry shortcake dessert if you want. My mom used to make a similar recipe but she used the mini muffin pan and made these wonderful little cakes with that garnish. They were nothing to look at but the butter flavor just burst in your mouth when you ate one.

Another thought would be to use colored sugar to sprinkle on top to give it a bit of punch. I've never melted colored sugar in butter before but you might try it and see if it looks edible and not like something from the sewer. Not sure how the color might change during the melting.

[Andy M.]

I wouldn't go to all the trouble of making a from scratch cake then use Cool Whip on it. Do it right and whip up some heavy cream.

[chopper]

Originally Posted by Andy M.

I wouldn't go to all the trouble of making a from scratch cake then use Cool Whip on it. Do it right and whip up some heavy cream.

With Andy's idea of fresh whipped cream with a touch of sugar you butter cake sounds fantastic! I may have to try it. I think strawberries are just the right thing to spruce it up for the crowd you are serving. Enjoy! If they don't like the cake, send it my way! I know I would love it!