Easy Homemade Coffee Cake For The Win!

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I love my coffee. I love sitting there, with a cup of Jo in hand, nibbling on some good old toast. But, unfortunately, I had a mishap recently. I burned my toast. It seemed like a sign. This day, I told myself, I was meant to burn my toast! This day, breakfast was meant for something more... 

Drama aside, I've always wanted to take a shot at a healthier version of coffee cake. This homemade version, using sparkling water instead of eggs/oil/butter, is pretty much perfect. There's no coffee in the recipe - but the brown sugar and cinnamon compliment a good old cup of Jo quite well. 

And I must say... this was the first time I warmed up the sweet cream cheese frosting I've used (though slightly altered) in recipes like Pumpkin Cream Cheese Cupcakes, Cake In A Jar, and Chocolate Cream Cheese Whoopie Pies... and the result is a sweet, coffee-cake drizzle that is to-die-for.

Prep time: 5 Minutes
Cook time: 35 Minutes
Total time: 40 Minutes
Yield: 10-12 Servings
Ingredients (Cake Batter):

• 1 box Vanilla Cake Mix
• 2 tablespoons Brown Sugar
• 2 teaspoons Cinnamon
• 12 Ounces Sparkling Water, Club Soda, or Tonic Water
• 1/4 cup Nuts (Pralines used here)

Ingredients (Crumble Top):

• 1 Cup Wheat Flour
• 2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
• 2 Tablespoons Softened Butter
• 1 pinch Salt
• 2 Tablespoons Oats

Ingredients (Frosting Drizzle):

• 2 Cups Powdered Sugar
• 8 Ounces Low-fat Cream Cheese
• 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 2 Tablespoons Softened Butter

Cooking Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325.
2. [For Cake Batter]Combine cake mix and sparkling water and mix well. Spoon about 1/2 of this mixture into two greased cake pans in random places. A smooth layer is not necessary - just spoon that baby in!
3. Add cinnamon, brown sugar, and (optional) nuts to the remaining batter. Stir well. Then spoon the remaining batter to fill in the cake pans. You should end up with a spotted-looking batter pattern.
4. Using a spoon, knife, or fork, slowly glide back and forth from left to right, somewhat mixing the two cake batters.
5. [For Crumble Top] In a separate bowl, combine Wheat Flour, Brown Sugar, Oats, and Salt. Mix well.
6. Add softened butter and knead with your hands until the butter has broken apart and you have a crumbly mixture. Add nuts if desired.
7. Sprinkle all of the crumbly mixture on top of both dishes of breakfast cake.
8. Bake in oven for 28-34 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
9. [For Frosting] In a clean bowl, prepare frosting by combining Powdered Sugar, Cream Cheese, Vanilla Extract, and Softened Butter. Beat on low for 30 seconds, then high for 2-4 minutes, or until it begins to peak.
10. Microwave frosting for 20-30 seconds. Stir. Then serve on top of breakfast cake with a cup of Jo on the side!

Cupcakes with Sparkling Water?

Tweet this! [Before you write this post off as boring, here's a SPOILER:  I made 60 calorie cupcakes today using sparkling water and they were freaking delicious.  And beautiful.  Okay, now read on...]

Have you ever heard of diet coke cakes (or diet coke cupcakes)?  You can substitute diet soda for the eggs, oil, and butter in a cake.  Sounds like a horrible idea?  It actually works.  Google the phrase "diet coke cake" and you will get this:

See?  Everybody's doing it.  "Go ahead and jump off a cliff, why don'tcha?" Okay, but, in all honesty, I'm not convinced that cooking with diet soda is entirely healthy.  Diet soda on its own has some scary health negatives, and I have no idea what baking may do to it.

So this morning, I had an idea:  If diet soda works, would sparkling water? 

• Why it might work:  if diet soda cakes are successful because of the carbonation (which sparkling water has)
• Why it might epic fail: if diet soda cakes are successful because of the syrup (which sparkling water has not)

Sounds like an experiment to me!  "Science rules!" Thanks, Bill Nye.

The verdict?  Ding ding ding, we have a winner!  Not only are these things beautiful, but they actually taste good!

They started out like this...

    

But I decided to melt some almond bark to lop onto a few of them for extra crunchiness (and because these babies are only 60 calories cooked, no joke).  So then they looked like this...

And no, they are not all that pretty.  Here are some of the less beautiful ones (because I had no idea if this would epic fail and thus couldn't bring myself to use all of my pretty cupcake papers)...

What you need:

    

• 1 can of Sparkling Water (I used La Croix)
• 1 box of Sugar Free cake

What ya gots ta do:

Seriously, this is the easiest cupcake mix in the history of the world...

1. Put the cake mix in the bowl.
2. Pour the whole can of sparkling water in
3. Mix
4. Bake according to directions on cake box

Okay, now who wants to lick the bowl? ;-)

100 Calorie Cake Balls?! Shut The Front Door!

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Me: “Did you know you can make delicious cake balls for 100 calories?”

You: “Shut the front door!”

It's the truth, I tell ya!  These are yellow cake balls, aka moist (hate that word) yellow cake truffles dipped in chocolate bark.  Mmmm!  Amaze-balls. Just be sure to make a lot of them.  Last time I made them, the entire batch was gone within 24 hours.  Thanks, roommates!  No, but really.  Sharing is caring... right?

Anyway, my friend David asked me for this recipe after hearing they were dee-lishh-ious.  $5 bucks says whoever loved and therefore suggested them had NO idea they were 100cal.  The evil health nut strikes again.  Muahahaha.

What you need:

• 1 box Yellow cake mix (I used Sugar-Free)
• 2 bananas (to be substituted for the eggs and oil in the cake mix directions – if you’re not going for a low fat recipe, skip the bananas and use the eggs/oil).
• Water (Pretty sure you know what this is/where to find it.  If not, send me an email.  We have some talking to do).
• 1 package Cream cheese (I used 1/3 Fat)
• 1 package Melting Chocolate (for melting – I used the almond bark squares from Kroger, but Dolci Fruitta would also work)
• Kitchenware: Pan (to bake cake), aluminum foil (or something to set them on while they cool), spoons (or toothpicks if you're a perfectionist - for dipping the cake balls in chocolate).

 What you gots ta do:

1. Bake the cake!  [Follow the directions on the cake mix].  If you’re cooking low-fat, use the bananas instead of oil/fat called for in the directions.  Throw the bananas into your mixer first so they are nice and mushy when you add the cake mix and water.
2. Let the cake cool!  All the way.  Seriously. Step. Away. From. The. Cake. Put it in the fridge if you’re impatient like me.
3. Mash the cake up (this is the fun part).  Just stick your hands in it and mash it up.  
4. Add the cream cheese.  I used about 2/3 of the package - it's really not an exact science.  Mix it up using your hands.  
5. Roll into balls about an inch or two in diameter.   If it’s getting really messy, stick it in the fridge for 30 minutes so it thickens a bit and get back at it.
6. Melt the chocolate in the microwave.
7. Using two spoons (or a toothpick if you want them to look perfect), dip each cake ball into the chocolate and set on a pan or aluminum foil to cool.

P.S. My lame joke at the beginning of this post was a desperate attempt to insert a need for the following (hilarious) video.  Seriously.  Shut the front door.  You're welcome :)