Happy New Year 2018

Have to learn to write a new date.

 Pete and Peg are my in-laws once removed, brother and sister-in-law of our son-in-law

I don't plan to do this, but thought it was funny.  Everyone is dieting.

Three years ago

With cake and extra 25 pounds

Small business owners being bullied

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMn3WycWJsg

This cake artist won't produce art for witchcraft, or bachelor parties, or a same sex wedding. He'll serve gays for any other event and has gay friends. But the LGBTQ community began to bully him. Sort of like the left is bullying any celebrity who would go against their Marxists principles and perform for the inauguration of Trump whom they hate. Even a blind opera singer. That hate crime is legal. Jack Phillips doesn't hate anyone, but big government is stepping on his first amendment rights, but it won't step in and stop the leftists harassing a president. Watch the video that follows this one with Neil Cavuto. Pay attention, America.

 https://www.adflegal.org/detailspages/client-stories-details/jack-phillips

Southern Strawberry Punch Bowl Cake (trifle)

 
 Southern Strawberry Punch Bowl Cake

1 yellow cake mix
1 (6 oz.) pkg. instant vanilla pudding
1 lg. can crushed pineapple, drained
2 (10 oz.) pkgs. frozen strawberries
2 bananas
1 (16 oz.) carton Cool Whip

Bake cake in two round cake pans and set aside to cool. Make pudding and set in refrigerator to get cold. Cut one layer of cake in small chunks; put in punch bowl. Spread half of pudding on top; then add half of pineapple and one package strawberries. Slice one banana on top; half of Cool Whip, spreading to cover completely. Repeat with the other layer the same - ending with Cool Whip. Let set in refrigerator overnight.

I would probably purchase an Angel Food cake, and skip the baking part.  I seem to remember either my mom or sister making this refreshing dessert. Using sugar free pudding mix and Free Cool Whip, you could probably call this "low-calorie."  I've got a pretty punch bowl I never use. . . now all I need is the ambition and an event.

Peanut Butter Fudge Cake

Ingredients

For the cake:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 16 ounces (about 1 & 1/2 cups) creamy peanut butter (reserve for cooled cake)

For the icing:

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1/3 cup buttermilk
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 16 ounces confectioners’ sugar, sifted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

1 _ Preheat oven to 350°. Grease and flour a 9” x 13” baking pan.
2 _ Whisk together flour, sugar, and baking soda in a large bowl. Set aside.
3 _ Place butter in a medium saucepan. Melt over medium heat.
4 _ Stir in cocoa powder. Then, stir in water, buttermilk, and eggs. Continue cooking over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture boils.
5 _ Remove the mixture from the heat and add to flour mixture. Stir until smooth. Stir in vanilla. (NOT Peanut Butter—save that for icing)
6 _ Transfer batter to prepared pan and spread evenly.

7 _ Bake 20 to 25 minutes, or until a pick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
8 _ Cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes. Then, spread the peanut butter over the cake. Allow to cool completely.
9 _ To make the icing, place the sifted confectioners’ sugar in a large bowl. Set aside.
10 _ Combine butter, buttermilk, and cocoa in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture begins to boil.
11 _ Remove from heat and pour over confectioners’ sugar. Stir until smooth. Stir in vanilla.
12 _ Spread icing over peanut butter. The cake can be served immediately or can sit at room temperature to allow the icing to set.

Cooking at Home recipe site—really yummy stuff here.

Carrot cake

Ingredients

CAKE

• 2 1/2 cups unbleached flour
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

        ----------or----------Use a spice cake mix

• 1 1/2 cups olive oil
• 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups shelled walnuts, chopped
• 1 1/2 cups sweetened, shredded coconut
• 2 cups finely grated carrots

FROSTING

• 8oz cream cheese at room temperature
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 tablespoon sour cream
• 2 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Spray two 9″ cake pans with nonstick cooking spray. Cut out rounds of parchment paper and place at the bottom of cake pans. Spray the top of the parchment paper with cooking spray.
2. Whisk together flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt in a large bowl. Add the oil, eggs, and vanilla. Beat well. Fold in the chopped nuts, coconut, and carrots.
3. Pour the batter into the pans, set on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 45-50 minutes or until the edges have pulled away from the sides, and a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool on a cake rack.
4. To prepare the frosting, cream together the cream cheese, sour cream, and butter in a mixing bowl. Slowly sift in the confectioners’ sugar and beat until the mixture is free of lumps. Stir in the vanilla and lemon juice.
5. Once the cakes have completely cooled, frost. Sprinkle the top with chopped walnuts, or create icing carrots to decorate with.
6. Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Simply Recipes and at the 12 Tomatoes website

Applesauce snacking cake

I like Splenda, I think it is pretty accurate in flavor and measurements for substituting for sugar, however, I suspect always using low fat or low sugar or egg substitutes in bakery goods is counter productive.  For example, here’s Domino’s Sugar recipe compared to Splenda’s for Applesauce snack cake.  I can’t find a nutrition break down for the sugar version (usually Splenda is listed at about 170 calories, and regular about 400), but I suspect if you just ate a smaller piece of the sugar/butter version you’d be better off than eating two of the Splenda version (which is what I would do because the substitutes don’t satisfy). The Splenda version seems to be more highly spiced—that’s a whole lot of cinnamon! It also contains less applesauce.

Cake ingredients using sugar:
1 cup - Domino® Granulated Sugar
1/4 cup - quick-cooking rolled oats
1 cup - all-purpose flour
1/4 cup - butter or margarine, softened
1/4 cup - water, chilled
1 - egg
3/4 cup - applesauce
1/2 cup - raisins
3/4 teaspoon - baking soda
3/4 teaspoon - cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon - nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon - salt
1/4 teaspoon - baking powder
1/4 teaspoon – cloves

Cake ingredients using Splenda, low calorie shortening and egg substitute
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 cup reduced-calorie margarine
1/4 cup molasses
1/2 cup egg substitute
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup SPLENDA® No Calorie Sweetener, Granulated
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

Strawberry Butter Cream Cake

We’re having our couples group on Saturday evening; might try this.

• 1 (18.25-ounce) Package white cake mix
• 1 (3-ounce) Package strawberry gelatin
• 4 Large eggs
• ½ Cup sugar
• ½ Cup finely chopped fresh strawberries
• ½ Cup milk
• ½ Cup Vegetable oil
• 1/3 Cup all-purpose flour
• Strawberry Butter cream Frosting (see below)
• Garnish with whole and halved strawberries
Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Beat cake mix, strawberry gelatin, eggs, sugar, chopped fresh strawberries, milk, vegetable oil and all-purpose flour at low speed with an electric mixer for 1 minute. Scrape down sides, and beat at medium speed for 2 more minutes, stopping to scrape down sides, as needed. (The Strawberries should be well blended.)
2. Pour batter into 3 greased and floured 9-inch round cake pans.
3. Bake at 350 degrees for 23 minutes, or until cakes spring back when pressed lightly with a finger. Let cool in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes. Remove from pans, and cool completely (about 1 hour.)
4. Spread the Strawberry Buttercream Frosting between layers and on top and sides of cake. Garnish with whole and halved strawberries. Serve immediately, or chill for up to 1 week.
To make ahead: Prepare recipe as directed. Chill, uncovered, for 20 minutes or until frosting is set. Cover well with wax paper, and store in refrigerator up to a week.
Strawberry Buttercream Frosting
Ingredients
• 1 Cup butter, softened
• (32-ounce) Package powdered sugar, sifted
• 1 Cup finely chopped fresh strawberries
Preparation
1. Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until fluffy (about 20 seconds). Add sugar and strawberries, beating at low speed until creamy. (Add more sugar if frosting is too thin, or add strawberries if too thick.)

Just ask Google--applesauce to oil

We're having a few couples from church in tomorrow evening, and for dessert I'm serving warmed fresh blueberries over lemon cake with a dollop of real whipped cream. I'd thought some of mixing the blueberries in little blobs into the unbaked cake and swirling, but fortunately remembered the disaster of a few years back when I decided to mix cooked blueberries into a vanilla pudding mix for a pie. Because these mixes all have a little yellow food coloring (called yellow 5 or yellow 6) to make them look yummy and inviting, if you mix in blueberries, you get something that looks like pea soup--gray green. The taste doesn't change at all, but a lot of what we taste is really done with our eyes (which is why I always clean and take down the cobwebs before I invite people over for dinner). So, that disaster was avoided.

The Betty Crocker Super Moist Lemon cake mix (I never make a cake from scratch) called for 1/3 cup of oil. Now, that's not awful, but everyone I know is watching the calories, so I decided to substitute applesauce for oil. I know you can do it in baking, I just didn't know the proportions. That's where Google comes in.

Google answers millions of questions a day--I know because some of them end up on my blog since I write on 50 bazillion topics. Here's what I learned. In baking it's about a 1:1 swap, but don't do it with cookies or snacky things that need a bit of crispness or you get "frankensnack." Even with this cake, I used a little less than 1/3 cup of applesauce, and added about a tablespoon of oil. If the cake tastes a little less than perfect, the blueberries will cover for me; I've tasted them and they are fabulous. 2 Tbsp. flour, 3/4 c. Splenda, a few shakes of cinnamon, and a Tbsp. of butter; heat just to the point they start to burst. Then I'll reheat them before serving, but they won't be mushy.

My little Sunbeam mixer was a wedding gift, so it's 50 years old. I think I've blogged about it before. The cord is stiff, it falls out of its connection, it trips the outlet switch, and the beaters fall out about every 45 seconds. But how many more years will I be making cakes, so I don't replace it. Besides, at this stage, it would be like kicking out a member of the family.

Well, it's about time to take the lemon cake out of the oven. Smells heavenly. I'll let you know . . .