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Every day is bake day at The Pantry. We bake, we test, and we share the good stuff with our customers in the store.
We made cakes using our Vanilla Bean Baby Cakes mixes and then topped them with fresh or frozen fruit, sauces, and flavored whipped cream. When we got them right, they were luscious.
The Vanilla Bean Baby Cakes mixes are cream cake mixes, denser and moister than the fluffy mixes from the store. They are about half way between the fluffy mixes and a pound cake, technically, a cream cake. With more substance, we think they are more suited for these desserts. They hold together and there is a better balance, more cake to go with your toppings.
Get Vanilla Bean Cakes here or look for denser cakes, like pound cake mixes, at your grocer’s.
Vanilla Bean Cake with Raspberries or Blackberries and Lemon Sauce
Lemon and raspberry is a great combination. We made the lemon sauce from a mix and then added raspberries. We concluded it was better not to mix them, rather, pour the lemon sauce over the cake and add the berries.
We tried several flavors of whipped cream. We liked lemon cloud whipped cream the best.
Step 1: Make the cake according to package instructions.
Step 2: Make the lemon sauce according to package instructions.
Step 3: Make the lemon whipped cream according to the recipe below.
Assemble the dessert.
Vanilla Bean Cake with a Blueberry Lemon Sauce
Lemon and blueberry is a classic combination. We liked the berries mixed right in the lemon sauce. It made a beautiful pink sauce.
Lemon cloud whipped cream was really the only choice for this dessert.
Step 1: Make the cake according to package instructions.
Step 2: Make the lemon sauce according to package instructions.
Step 3: Make the lemon whipped cream according to the recipe below.
Assemble the dessert.
Vanilla Bean Cake with Fresh Strawberries and Lemon Sauce
If you like strawberry shortcake, you’ll like this. The strawberries are just coming on; they’ll be a little better later in the season. Still, this was very good.
The dessert in the image was made with lemon sauce. If you prefer buttermilk syrup any of the following would work well:
- Buttermilk Syrup
- Coconut Syrup
- Maple Buttermilk Syrup
We didn’t try it but I bet a good chocolate sauce would have been very good.
Since we used lemon sauce, we stuck with lemon whipped cream.
Step 1: Make the cake according to package instructions.
Step 2: Make the lemon sauce according to package instructions.
Step 3: Make the lemon whipped cream according to the recipe below.
Assemble the dessert.
Lemon Cloud Whipped Cream
2 cups whipping cream
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons lemon flavor
1 tablespoon lemon zest
2 tablespoons meringue powder
Place all ingredients in the mixing bowl of your stand-type mixer. Beat with the whip attachment until peaks form. Keep chilled.
The meringue powder is not necessary but it stabilizes the whipped cream and retards melting. We use it nearly every time we make whipped cream. Get your meringue powder here.
Vanilla Bean Cake with Peaches in Caramel Sauce and Caramel Whipped Cream
Buttermilk syrup tastes like a cross between a caramel syrup and a butterscotch syrup. We added frozen peach slices right to the syrup. That was a mistake. It thinned the syrup too much. It tasted great but it was too thin. It’s best to use fresh peaches or let the frozen slices thaw a bit and then pat them dry. Pour the sauce over the slices and the cake.
Caramel whipped cream was dynamite with this.
Step 1: Make the cake according to package instructions.
Step 2: Make the buttermilk syrup according to package instructions.
Step 3: Make the caramel whipped cream according to the recipe below.
Assemble the dessert.
Caramel Whipped Cream
2 cups whipping cream
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons meringue powder
2 teaspoons caramel flavor
Whip the cream to soft peaks. Add the brown sugar and flavor and continue whipping.
The meringue powder is not necessary but it stabilizes the whipped cream and retards melting.
FREE! Get the bundle!
Make these sweet desserts. Except for the ingredients from your kitchen, this is all you need:
The cupcake and dessert mix! Reg. $5.99
1 lemon or other sauce/syrup! Reg. $4.49
A lemon or other flavor! Reg. $9.99
About the Author
Dennis Weaver has burned food from Point Barrow, Alaska, to Miami, Florida. He is the founder of The Prepared Pantry in Rigby, Idaho and the author of How to Bake: The Art and Science of Baking available as an E-book or as a Kindle book on Amazon.
Dennis lives in Rigby, Idaho, with his wife, Merri Ann. They have five wonderful children and five beautiful granddaughters.