Here's a couple "sauce on the bottom" cake puddings: Diane's Home Cookin Chapter: Pudding Cakes Cinnamon Pudding Cake ===================== 1-3/4 cups brown sugar 1 ½ cup cold water 2 tablespoons Butter 1 cup milk 1 cup sugar 2 tablespoons Butter 2 cups flour 2 teaspoons Baking powder ½ tsp. Salt 2 ½ teaspoon Cinnamon ½ c. chopped walnuts ( optional ) . Preheat oven to 350° Combine brown sugar, water & 2 Tbsp butter in small saucepan, bring to a boil, remove from heat & set aside. Cream together 2 Tbsp. Butter and sugar, add milk, then add flour, baking powder, salt & cinnamon.Spread in ungreased 9 x 9 x 2 in. Pan or oven proof dish. Pour reserved brown sugar syrup over batter-sprinkle with nuts. Bake 35-40 min. Shared by D. Nourse to Citizen Recipe Request Column 1999 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Chocolate Raspberry Pudding Cake ================================ 1 cup all-purpose flour 3/4 cup sugar 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa 1 tablespoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup milk 3 tablespoons LAND O LAKES® Butter, melted 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 (10-ounce) package frozen raspberries in syrup, thawed 1 cup hot water 1/3 cup chocolate flavor syrup Powdered sugar, if desired Fresh raspberries, if desired . Heat oven to 350°F. Place flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder and salt into greased 8- or 9-inch square baking pan; stir with fork to combine. Stir in milk, butter and vanilla until well mixed. Stir in raspberries. Combine hot water and chocolate syrup in small bowl. Pour evenly over batter. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until center is set and edges pull away from sides of pan. Let stand 25 minutes. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and garnish with fresh raspberries, if desired. Ingredient Substitution Index Nutrition Facts (1 serving): Calories: 220, Fat: 4.5g, Cholesterol: 10mg, Sodium: 310mg, Carbohydrates: 45g, Dietary Fiber: 3g, Protein: 3g 12864 © 2007 Land O'Lakes, Inc--serves 9 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Apple Pudding Cake ================== posted by NotEnoughRoses Cake mixture: 1 cup chopped pecans 2/3 cup vegetable shortening 1-1/3 cups granulated sugar 2 eggs 2 teaspoons baking soda 2 teaspoons cinnamon 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg 2 cups all-purpose flour 6 cups peeled and chopped apples (about 5 medium apples) Sauce mixture: 1-1/2 cups packed brown sugar 2 tablespoons flour 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 cup water 1 cup heavy cream, optional . Preheat the oven to 325° F. Grease a 13- x 9- x 2-inch pan. In a frying pan over low-medium heat, toast the pecans until they begin to color and become fragrant, about 7 minutes. Pour into a dish and set aside. In the large bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the shortening and granulated sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat well after each addition. Sift together the baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and flour, and beat into the sugar mixture. Fold in the chopped apples and the nuts. The mixture will be stiff. Spread into the prepared pan. (Don't bake it yet.) In a medium saucepan, stir together the brown sugar and the 2 tablespoons of flour. Add the butter, vanilla and water, stir, and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Boil gently for 3 minutes, stirring often. Pour this hot sauce evenly over the batter. Do not stir. Bake 1 hour. Serve warm, with whipped cream if desired. Serves 10 to 12. From the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, 6/14/01.

Is this too much like your Lemon Brownies? They need to be cut in very small pieces because they are so rich! White Chocolate Brownies Brownies 1 cup butter (2 sticks) 3/4 cup white chocolate chips 4 eggs, beaten 2 cups sugar 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted 1 teaspoon vanilla Icing 1/2 cup butter (1 stick) 1/2 cup white chocolate chips 3 cups powdered sugar, sifted 2 tablespoons half & half (more may be needed to achieve the correct consistency) 1 teaspoon vanilla Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Brownies For the brownies, melt butter & white chocolate in microwave using 30 second intervals or in the top of double boiler. Remove from heat & pour into large bowl. Mix in eggs and slowly add sugar. Add flour and vanilla. Pour mixture into greased & floured 9x13 inch pan. Bake 30-35 minutes. Start watching after 20 minutes so that the brownies don't brown too much. May be necessary to turn down the temp, too. Allow to cool and spread with white chocolate icing. Icing For the icing, melt butter & white chocolate in microwave or double boiler. Remove from heat. Beat in the powdered sugar, half & half, and vanilla. Spread over cooled brownies. Tip: if you chill them in refrigerator, they are very easy to cut.

Yes, "healthy" is indeed ambiguous! it's like trying to find a "good" energy bar ... well do you care about protein, or carbs, or calories or fiber or banning sugar at all costs? Do you want organic or at least "natural"? etc etc We put our Cooking Club schedule together every August. January is always "lighter." Originally it was supposed to be "Whole 30" night but when we looked into that, it was too limiting. So we decided on "healthy" , which we defined to mean as low in calories as possible, without using artificial ingredients. Funnily enough, I am going to be at a cooking class at Bouley in NYC on Thursday during the day, then have the club dinner at night. So now I realize i need to make this in advance. I have decided on the item below. I can make it all in advance (I will also make the labneh), it is unusual and very pretty, and not only lower in calories but also offers the health-promoting benefits of pomegranate, yogurt, nuts and honey. On top of it all, I am picking up some honeycomb (rather than just honey) to put on top. Only negative is that it is cold, but, well, we aren't eating outside. : ) Lastly it will be a big turnout which means we will have a lot of food; I will want to nicely present small servings. I have a whole bunch of small glass votive holders and I will use those. Pomegranate Sorbet Parfait https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/pomegranate-sorbet-parfait All that said, I have at least 3 recipes I now want to try for some other time --- The Clementine cake, so intriguing, the roses, so pretty, and the really healthy apple crisp with a bit of heat. Thank you all! PS Heading to Savannah Bee tomorrrow, thx for the idea. My local grocer has it but it was submerged in honey. I want the crispy/chewy factor.

Ah! Shaw. You're right. Thanks for the correction! (Truly!) Funny about cakes. I always think of France as having all the different cakes. But if there's any cake that gains popularity, you'll see it in our bakeries. Like Tres Leches used to just be in the Mexican bakeries, but it's mainstream now. Most of our cakes are butter cake variations, with a few chiffons thrown in, whereas French cakes have all kinds of different batters/doughs and creams. But maybe that's just me being unaware of the cakes, or lack thereof, in the UK. For us, unless we're being divergent, celebrations have cakes: Birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, baptisms, graduations, etc. And less so now, but in the past, most people served dessert at a regular home meal (back when people were thinner!). Often that meant homebaked cake. Which is where the rise of the cake mix came from. And then the rise of cakes made by doctoring cake mixes. Interesting about the cookies. We have infinite kinds of cookies, and as you might have seen in the other thread, traditions of baking many kinds and making gift baskets for friends and neighbors. As we've grown more health conscious that has become less of a thing, but it's still very much done. On American TV you'll see challenge shows for decorating and constructing with cookies, and they do take flavor and texture into account, but the real cookies that most people bake (or buy) and eat are mostly about the eating. Growing up for me, dessert was fruit, but there were always cookies and ice cream available. My father liked both. We rarely had cake that wasn't leftover from a celebration, but there were lots of celebrations. What we really looked forward to, every year, however, which my mother would get for the big Hanukkah party (where there were tons of homemade and individually wrapped cookies hanging on forms as decorations to eat, along with net bags of chocolate coins), was the Swiss bakery fruit torte, which other bakeries have started selling in recent years, but not as good. It was a huge sheet pan sized of puff filled with pastry cream and the ripest and best and most delicious of berries and tropical fruits, with a light tart glaze.