Super Cakes

I am putting my new stadium cake pan to good use today. I made a Blueberry-Lemon Bundt Cake from Martha earlier today. That cake is going to the FtP cast party tomorrow. I have a Chocolate Sour Cream Bundt Cake ready to go in the oven. That one will stay here for our Super Festivities. Go Patriots!!


Blueberry-Lemon Bundt Cake (found on Martha Stewart)
Serves 12
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus 1 teaspoon for blueberries and zest
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream
2 cups blueberries
2 tablespoons grated lemon zest
Nonstick cooking spray, for pan
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting (optional)
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, whisk 2 1/2 cups flour with baking powder and salt; set aside.
2. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars on high speed until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until incorporated. Beat in vanilla. Reduce speed to low; add flour mixture in three additions, alternating with two additions of sour cream.
3. In a bowl, toss blueberries and zest with remaining teaspoon flour; gently fold into batter. Coat a 12-cup nonstick Bundt pan with cooking spray. Spread batter in prepared pan.
4. Bake cake on bottom rack of oven until a toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean, 60 to 70 minutes. Cool in pan 20 minutes. Invert onto a rack; cool completely, top side up. Dust with confectioners’ sugar before serving, if desired.


Chocolate Sour Cream Bundt Cake (from Williams-Sonoma)
To melt the bittersweet chocolate for this Bundt® cake, chop it finely with a serrated knife. Then place the chocolate in the top pan of a double boiler and warm the chocolate, stirring occasionally, until smooth and creamy. Set aside to cool slightly.
Ingredients:
For the cake:
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
16 Tbs. (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
4 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups sour cream
6 oz. bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled slightly
For the glaze:

1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup water
1 Tbs. chocolate liqueur
Confectioners’ sugar for dusting
Whipped cream for serving
Directions:
Have all the ingredients at room temperature. Position a rack in the center of an oven and preheat to 325°F. Grease and flour a decorative 10-cup Bundt® pan.

To make the cake, over a sheet of waxed paper, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt; repeat until well blended. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the flat beater, beat the butter on medium speed until smooth and creamy, 30 to 45 seconds. Reduce the speed to low and gradually add the granulated sugar, beating until blended. Increase the speed to medium-high and continue beating, occasionally scraping down the sides of the bowl, until the mixture is light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the eggs a little at a time, beating each addition until incorporated before adding more, until the mixture is thick and creamy, 1 to 2 minutes; stop mixer occasionally and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Beat in the vanilla.

Reduce the speed to low and fold in the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the sour cream and beginning and ending with the flour, until just blended and no lumps of flour remain. Then gently fold in the chocolate.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, spreading the batter so the sides are about 1 inch higher than the center. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 1 hour. Transfer to a wire rack and cool the cake upright in the pan for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the glaze: In a small saucepan over low heat, combine the granulated sugar and water and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat and stir in the chocolate liqueur. Set the rack over a sheet of waxed paper, invert the pan onto the rack and lift off the pan. Generously brush the warm cake with the glaze. Let the cake cool to room temperature, then dust with confectioners’ sugar just before serving. Top slices with a dollop of whipped cream. Serves 16.

Recip-ease 5

I do not like any kind of food that comes from water, be it sea, lake, or stream. But, my Curly loves it all. And, since I love my Curly, I suck it up and make some stinky dish for him. His request for Turkey Day is crab dip to eat while watching pre-dinner football.

As a side note -- I am using canned crab for this. I was at Costco yesterday, and so was a can. Hopefully it will be to Curly's liking :)

Crab Dip
2 – 8 oz packages of softened cream cheese
2/3 cup mayonnaise
2 tsp mustard
2 T dried minced onion
1 tsp salt
Beat above ingredients. Fold in 2 T chopped parsley and a dash of garlic powder. Add 2 – 6 ounce packages of frozen crab.
Chill and serve with crackers.

Recip-ease 4

I found this one online the other day. I am a big fan of traditional stuffing, but this one might be worth a shot. The recipe even included nutritional information.

Cornbread Apricot Stuffing

Ingredients
Cooking spray
1/3 cup butter
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
1/2 cup thinly sliced celery
2 (15.75-ounce) cans fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 (16-ounce) package cornbread dressing mix
18 dried apricots, chopped
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Preparation
Melt butter in a nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Sauté onion and celery 8 minutes or until tender. Stir in broth and cook 2 minutes or until fully heated. Stir in dressing mix and remaining ingredients.

Nutritional Information
CALORIES 147(29% from fat); FAT 4.6g (sat 2.1g,mono 1g,poly 0.1g); PROTEIN 3.2g; CHOLESTEROL 9mg; CALCIUM 33mg; SODIUM 478mg; FIBER 1.7g; IRON 1.3mg; CARBOHYDRATE 22.9g

Recip-ease 3

This is one of my favorite things to serve as an appetizer. It's a different take on the normal creamy artichoke dip. Serve with fancy butterfly crackers or baguette slices.

Artichoke Dip
2 cups Parmesan cheese
2 cups mozzarella cheese
1 cup mayonnaise
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
16 oz can artichoke hearts, drained and finely chopped (I don’t chop them too finely)
Mix all ingredients thoroughly. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

Recip-ease 2

Who doesn't love a delicious pie? I know I can't resist a slice. I love to make pie, and I love to make pie crust from scratch. I would be lying if I said I was really great at it -- I'm not. But, it still tastes good. Here is one of my favorite holiday pies --Apricot Cranberry. Enjoy!

Festive Cranberry-Apricot Pie (fr0m Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook)

Pie crust
1/2 c sugar
3 Tbl cornstarch
1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/4 tsp salt
3 15 1/4-ounce cans apricot halves, drained and cut into quarters
1/2 c dried cranberries, snipped
1 egg white
1 Tbl milk
1 Tbl sugar
1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1. Line a 9-inch pie place with 1/2 pie crust. Make edges pretty.

2. In large bowl combine the 1/2 c sugar, the cornstarch, the 1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice, and the salt. Stir in apricots and cranberries. Spoon fruit mixture into pastry-lined pie plate.

3. Roll remaining dough into a circle about 12 inches in diameter. Using a 1- to 1 1/2-inch leaf-shaped cutter or other desired cutter, cut 36 to 40 shapes from the dough. In a small bowl stir together egg white and milk. Brush egg white mixture over pastry shapes; reserve remaining egg white mixture. Stir together the 1 Tbl sugar and 1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice. Sprinkle half of the pastry shapes with the sugar mixture. Arrange 10 to 12 of the shapes, alternating brushed and sprinkled shapes, in a circle in center of the top of pie filling. Brush edge of crust with remaining egg white mixture. Evenly distribute the remaining pastry shapes around edge of crust.

4. To prevent overbrowning, cover edge of pie lightly with foil. Bake in a 375* oven for 35 minutes. Remove foil. Bake for 15 minutes more. Cool on wire rack.

Recip-ease

This recipe has been served at our Thanksgiving dinners for generations. Well, not really. But we sure like it. I'm a little fuzzy on where the recipe came from (I think from a cookbook called "When Mormons Meet they Eat"), but I say it's my mom's. If you don't like sweet potatoes with marshmallows, give this a try. It's especially delicious for breakfast. Just a little note -- we often leave the nuts out of the topping because several folks in the family have nut allergies. It tastes really good either way.

SWEET POTATO CASSEROLE
Bake and then peel and mash: 5 medium sized sweet potatoes.
Add:
¼ tsp. salt
¼ cup butter
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
½ tsp. cinnamon
½ cup sugar
2 T cream
Place in a casserole and top with the following:
¼ cup soft butter
3 T flour
¾ cups brown sugar
½ cup chopped pecans
Mix topping until it is like coarse meal. Sprinkle over potatoes. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Chili

I make a mean chili. It's a real crowd-pleaser, even though it didn't win our ward chili cook-off last year. I have been asked to post the recipe, and so I will.

I love this time of year because of the food. It's no secret that I'm an eater, and I'm okay with that. Thanksgiving and Christmas are full of such wonderful dishes. Even though they are the same every year, I can't wait to eat them again. This next week, I will be posting some of my favorite recipes. Try them out and let me know how you like them!

Chili con Carne

2 lbs ground beef (can also use a combination of meats, like pork and veal)
1 large onion, chopped
2 red bell peppers, chopped
28-oz can crushed tomatoes
1-2 cans diced tomatoes (save liquid for later)
1/2 cup beef stock
2 packages McCormicks chili spice
2 cans kidney beans, drained

In a large pot, brown ground beef. Add salt and pepper to taste. When meat is no longer pink and broken up into small pieces, remove from pot using a slotted spoon, and place in a bowl. Without draining fat, add the onions and bell peppers to the pot. You may need to add a little olive oil if using a lean meat. Once veggies are tender, add beef to the pot with tomatoes and stock. Add spices. If the chili seems too thick, add some liquid from the diced tomatoes or more beef stock. Simmer on the stove uncovered for at least 30-45 minutes. The longer it simmers, the better it tastes. About 5 minutes before serving, add kidney beans.

Serve with fritos, cheese, sour cream, green onions, and corn bread.

Weight Loss Wednesday

I had the best dessert -- Chocolate Souffle Cake. The best part was that it was only 79 calories and less than 1 gram of fat. I got it out of Cooking Light. I think I need to subscribe...These were so easy and so chocolatey. Very do-able on a weeknight.

4 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon AP flour
1 1/2 tablespoon Dutch processed cocoa
2 tablespoons skim milk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg white
1 teaspoon powdered sugar.

Heat oven to 350

Spray 2 (6-oz) ramekins with cooking spray; sprinkle each with 3/4 teaspoon granulated sugar.

Combine 2 tablespoons sugar, flour, cocoa, and milk in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook 2 minutes, stirring until smooth. Spoon chocolate mixture into a medium bowl; cool 4 minutes. Stir in vanilla.

Place egg white in a medium bowl; beat with a mixer at high speed until soft peaks form. Add remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar, 1 teaspoon at a time, beating until stiff peaks form (do not overbeat). Gently stir 1/4 of egg white mixture into chocolate mixture; gently fold in remaining egg white mixture. Spoon mixture into prepared dishes. Sharply tap dishes 2 or 3 times to level. Place dishes on baking sheet; bake at 350 for 15 minutes or utnil puffy and set. Sprinkle each souffle with 1/2 teaspoon powdered sugar. Serve immediately.

Super Fare

There are some times of year where you just say "Jenny who?" and eat yourself silly. The Super Bowl is one of those times. We watched it on the HD tv in my parents basement and ate ourselves silly before the kickoff. My dad summed up my entertaining philosophy by saying "Why serve 3 things when you can have 6?" Amen. So here's the menu:

Artichoke dip from Wegmans, served cold with potato chips.
Artichoke dip from my mom, served hot with bruschette.
Sweet chicken bacon wraps, served with blue cheese dressing as a dip. This was a crowd pleaser.
A muffuletta. Really good, except it started to fall apart as we cut into it.
Contessa onion dip. It's like the dip you make with onion soup mix, except way better.
A cake that said "Go Bears." For the Bears fans, it was kind of hard to choke down as they were losing.

It would be nice to say that we were so full, we didn't care who won. But some of us did care. Years ago when the Bears lost, my brother hid in a closet. I hope he didn't do that when he got home. If so, I'm sure his wife will understand. Way to go Peyton.

Yummy Recipe

Crispix Mix

1 stick butter
6 oz chocolate chips
6 oz peanut butter chips
12 oz crunchy peanut butter
1 pound powdered sugar
largest box of Crispix cereal (or 1 1/2 12 oz boxes)

Melt first 4 ingredients in sauce pan over low heat. Pour cereal in large, covered container. Pour melted ingredients over the cereal and mix well. Add powdered sugar, seal container, and shake until well coated.

Don't make the mistake I made in trying to double the recipe. You end up smooshing the cereal and not all the pieces get stuff on them. This makes a great gift for neighbors -- just put it in a festive Chinese take-out box (you can get them at Michael's), and a ribbon, and viola!