Strawberries & Cream Cake

Strawberries & Cream Cake
Originally found at Cooks.com

1 pkg. angel food cake mix (+ ingredients to make it)
1 15 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
1/3 cup lemon juice
1 tsp almond extract
2 (8 oz) containers Whipped topping
2 pints fresh strawberries, washed & sliced

Prepare and bake angel food cake according to package directions in a 10"x4" tube pan. While cake is baking, combine sweetened condensed milk, lemon juice, and almond extract in a medium bowl. Blend well. Slowly fold in whipped topping. Chill 10-15 minutes.

Once cake is done, invert on a wire rack or wine bottle and cool completely. Remove from pan and place on serving platter. Slice a 1" horizontal layer from top of cake; carefully lift off and set aside. Cut out interior of cake, leaving 1" in each direction (inside edge, outer edge, and bottom). Tear the removed portion of cake into small pieces. Pour 1 1/2 cups of chilled whipped cream mixture into a medium size bowl and add the cake bits and sliced strawberries. Fold until well mixed.

Gently spoon strawberry mixture into the hollowed out cake and replace the top. Use remaining cream mixture as a frosting. Place in freezer and chill about two hours, or until frosting is firm. Garnish with remaining strawberries.

My Notes:
When I was on vacation last week, my friend was making this for her BBQ (which I, sadly, could not attend). So when one of my friends back home asked if I wanted to go strawberry picking (best strawberries ever), I leaped at the chance and proceeded to buy everything I needed for this cake. It's a rather inexpensive dessert, all things considered.

Some notes: I did not actually frost the sides of my cake (obviously), nor did I freeze it. I just took the cream mixture, spooned it into the center, then spread it on top. I missed the direction that said to separate it into two batches before stirring in the cake. It still turned out yummy. Not very firm and a pain to cut, but very yummy. I'm wondering what I'm going to do with it now.

Black Bottom Cupcakes

Black Bottom Cupcakes
Originally found at Joy of Baking

8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 large egg
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract, divided
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/3 cups granulated white sugar, divided
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 Tbsp white vinegar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and line 12 muffin cups with paper liners. With an electric or hand mixer, beat cream cheese until smooth. Add 1/3 cup sugar, egg, and 1/2 tsp vanilla extract. Beat until creamy and smooth. Avoid overbeating, else the top will crack during baking. Set aside.

In a large bowl, sift together flour, 1 cup sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, mix the water, oil, vinegar, and vanilla. Slowly stir the water mixture into the flour mixture, until smooth.

Fill the muffin cups about halfway with the chocolate batter. Spoon a few tablespoons of the cream cheese filling into the center of each cupcake. Bake for about 25 minutes, or until the cream cheese filling has set and the cupcakes feel springy to the touch (a toothpick inserted into the chocolate will come out clean). Remove from oven and place on wire rack to cool.

If there are leftovers, refrigerate for up to 3-4 days.

My Notes:
So, I didn't get the nice well in the center that they did... my cupcakes look like chocolate cupcakes with a cheesecake like frosting. They still taste really good, and if you only use the chocolate part, it's dairy free. Not to mention egg free. I'm sure you could make it gluten free if you tried.

I'm going to have to restrain myself from eating too many of these things.

Thai Noodle Salad

(Told you it was pending)

Thai Noodle Salad
Originally found at Allrecipes.com

1 (12 ounce) package angel hair pasta
4 large carrots, shredded
1 small green bell pepper, sliced thinly
1 small red bell pepper, sliced thinly
1 small yellow bell pepper, sliced thinly
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1/2 cup chopped peanuts, divided
1 Tbsp sesame seeds

1/4 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup tahini (estimate)
2 Tbsp rice wine vinegar (or white wine vinegar)
2 Tbsp chili garlic sauce
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp brown sugar
Salt and pepper to taste
Green onions, for garnish

Break pasta in half and cook as directed. Drain and rinse with cold water. In a large bowl, toss together the pasta, carrots, bell peppers and cilantro.

In a food processor, mix together 1/4 cup peanuts, peanut butter, tahini, vinegar, chile sauce, soy sauce, sesame oil, and brown sugar until well combined. Add a small amount of oil if the mixture is too thick. Season with salt and pepper.

Ten minutes before serving, toss the pasta mixture with the peanut sauce. Garnish with cilantro, green onions, peanuts, and sesame seeds, if desired.

My Notes:

I definitely adapted this recipe. I didn't have rice wine vinegar, so I cut the amount in half and used white wine vinegar. It came out really sour, so I added more tahini to compensate. The recipe above reflects the change I made; if you actually use rice wine vinegar, you may want to use more, as it isn't quite as strong as white wine vinegar.

I wasn't sure how it was going to turn out, but I brought the dish to a potluck we were having, and those who had it complemented me on it. And I tried it and was mostly pleased. It's definitely less harsh on the salad itself than it is straight out of the bowl. Guess I need to work on my taste discrimination a bit more.

All in all, it was a very good, and very colorful recipe. I enjoyed it, and it was nice and light for a summer's day (or night, as the case may be).

Almond Crusted Chicken

Almond Crusted Chicken
Originally found in Southern Living 2007 Annual Recipes (p 54)

1/4 cup almonds
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
2 tsp jerk seasoning
1/4 tsp salt
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken cuts
olive oil, as needed

In a food processor, combine almonds, breadcrumbs, jerk seasoning and salt. Pulse until well combined and uniform. Place in a shallow dish. Brush olive oil on chicken and coat with almond mixture. Heat a small amount of oil in a nonstick skillet and cook chicken over medium-high heat, 4 minutes on each side. If you have thicker slices of chicken, cook until golden brown on each side, then place in a baking dish and bake in a 350 degree oven until center is no longer pink.

My Notes:

Another non-dairy recipe! I really liked this recipe. It has a nice crunch and a nice kick, but with flavors that I'm not really used to using. It's good. I served mine over rice, but it could just as easily be served with some corn (grilled corn, anyone?) or other vegetables. Enjoy!

Snickerdoodles

Snickerdoodles
Originally found at Joy of Baking

2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cup + 1/3 cup granulated white sugar (divided)
2 large eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla
3 tsp ground cinnamon, divided

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder and 1 tsp cinnamon. In a separate bowl, beat together the butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar until smooth (works best with an electric mixer). Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping the bowl as needed. Beat in vanilla extract. Add flour mixture and mix until smooth.

Shape the dough into 1 inch round balls. In a shallow bowl, mix together 1/3 cup sugar and 2 tsp cinnamon. Roll the balls of dough in the sugar mixture and place on a cookie sheet, spacing about 2 inches apart. Using the bottom of a glass, gently flatten each cookie to about 1/2 inch thick. Bake cookies for 8-10 minutes, or until they are light golden brown and firm around the edges.

Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.

My Notes:
My roommate was begging me to bake something, so I surfed the internet a little until I found this recipe. I like the result... nice and sweet with a little kick of cinnamon. I did add a little bit of cinnamon to the batter itself (reflected in the above recipe) because I felt it added a bigger depth of flavor, rather than just having cinnamon sugar on top of a sugar cookie. I also really like this batter, so I might use it instead of my former batter.