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Archive for the ‘Recipes’ Category

Delicious Sour Cream Chocolate Bundt Cake

Posted in Desserts, Easy Recipes, tagged , , on June 11, 2010| 8 Comments »

Be generous with the chocolate frosting. Let it drizzle down the sides and pool along the bottom.

Hubby’s Grandma Nell loves to cook and she shared this chocolate cake recipe with me years ago. I start drooling just thinking about making it because it is so moist and good. It turns out delicious every time and is really simple to make.

My BFF and her husband came to help us with a project a few weekends ago. I made this cake to serve for dessert and her husband, who is a fellow chocolate devotee, seemed to really enjoy it as well.

The ingredients.

The cake batter will be really thick, so don't be surprised when it turns out that way. All will be well in the end.

Once the cake is baked and cooled, put it on your platter or cake stand. I love this bundt pan made of silicone. It is a breeze to get the cake out.

The bare cake, begging for frosting.

As I mentioned before, be generous in your chocolate drizzle.

Finally, enjoy the fruits of your labor. Your taste buds will thank you!

Chocolate Bundt Cake

1 Triple Chocolate Betty Crocker Cake Mix (18 ounce box)

1 small box of instant chocolate pudding

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup oil

3 eggs

1/2 cup chocolate frosting

berries (optional)

whipping cream (optional)

mint leaves (optional)

Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl and pour into a greased and floured bundt pan. Bake at 350 degrees of one hour or until edges start to pull away from the pan.

You can use a fun bundt pan shape to make this cake look like you went to a lot of work (when you really didn’t). I like to finish the cake with some pre-made chocolate frosting (yes, right out of the can) that has been warmed. Use about 1/2 cup and microwave for 10-15 seconds, just until it starts to melt. Pour over the top of the cake. You can dust it with powdered sugar or cocoa powder or top with festive sprinkles. You can also pour on caramel sauce and serve while the cake is warm. This is especially taste when served with a side of Dulce de Leche ice cream. Trust me. It will nearly make you faint with bliss.

I like to make the cake the day before, frost it then refrigerate and serve chilled. My favorite presentation is to serve it with a dollop of whipped cream and fresh raspberries. So good!

Enjoy and Happy Entertaining!

Shanna

(aka – The Chocoholic)

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Simple Summer Fruit Salad

Posted in Easy Recipes, Salads, tagged , , , on June 4, 2010| 1 Comment »

When I was at the grocery store the other day, they had a lovely display of cantaloupes. My mouth started to water at the thought of fresh slices of the orange-fleshed melon so I started sniffing through the pile to find just the right one. I am one of those people who has to sniff my cantaloupe. It smells of sunshine and summer and wonderful sweetness. When it smells “just right” I know it is the one to take home.

Unfortunately, the woman standing next to me squeezing the melons like they were rolls of Charmin, kept looking at me like I was a crazy nut-job. But that is okay because when I got home and cut open my melon, it was perfection.

Expecting company for lunch the next day, I decided not to eat all the cantaloupe myself and instead whipped up this refreshing and simple fruit salad.

Ingredients - very simple

After you cut the cantaloupe open, scoop out the seeds. A tablespoon will dig them out in a jiffy.

Now peel and slice the melon. Cut it into bite-sized pieces.

Cut your grapes in half. That's right - cut them in half. You'll have the undying love of your guests if you do.

Slice up the pineapple. Fresh is best!

Reserve the pineapple juice to pour over the salad.

Simple Summer Fruit Salad

1 cantaloupe

1 cup of grapes

2 cups of pineapple

Pineapple juice

Cut open the cantaloupe, peel and then slice. I diced mine up into bite-sized pieces.

After washing the grapes, I cut them in half. Yes – take the time to cut them in half. It will add less than two minutes prep time to your day and your guests will be forever thankful to you. Have you ever been sitting somewhere nice trying to show people that you weren’t born in a barn and do have a few manners trying to stab a whole grape with your fork. You stab, it moves, you stab harder, it threatens to shoot off your plate and take out someone’s eye. Never a good thing, not that it has ever happened to me. So take the time to cut those little orbs in half!

Last but not least, cut your pineapple into bite-sized pieces. In a hurry (could also be interpreted as lazy) I bought pineapple spears. I do recommend going with fresh pineapple over canned because of the flavor and texture intensity. If you like whacking up a whole pineapple, go for it. If not, just buy the fresh that is pre-cut. Save the juice that will be in the bottom of the pineapple container and pour it over the fruit. Give it a good stir, cover with plastic wrap and let the flavors blend in the fridge for an hour or so. You can make this a day ahead.

As a final step toss on a few sprigs of mint and berries. Ta-da. Wasn’t that simple and easy?

Enjoy and Happy Entertaining!

Shanna

(aka the Cantaloupe Sniffer)

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Strawberry Bliss

Posted in Beverages, Easy Recipes, Entertaining at Home, tagged , , on May 28, 2010| 2 Comments »

If you are somewhere in the world where the sun is shining and it is warm and lovely heading into this Memorial Day Weekend. Enjoy it!

With our gray skies and rain, it doesn’t seem like it can be the end of May.

Here is an easy and fun drink that tastes best on hot days, but if you are being forced inside by the weather this weekend, plan an indoor picnic, cozy up by the fire and enjoy. This drink is also family friendly so the kids can smack their lips over it as well.

Ingredients

Sugar the rims of the glasses.

Scoop the slushy mix out of the pitcher and into the chilled glasses.

Strawberry Bliss!

Strawberry Bliss

1 can of Bacardi Mixers Frozen Strawberry Daiquiri concentrate

1 1/2 cans of water

1 bottle of Club Soda

granulated sugar

Mix concentrate with 1 1/2 cans (using the concentrate can) of water. Stir and freeze for a couple of hours, until it starts to firm up.

Wet the rims of your glasses and dip in sugar. Just put a teaspoon or so of sugar on a flat saucer and dip away. I like to put the glasses in the freezer after I sugar them so they are frosty when I serve the drink.

When you are ready to serve, remove the glasses and strawberry mix from the freezer. Scoop slush into glasses and fill about two-thirds full. Pour in enough club soda to fill the glass. You can garnish the glasses with a strawberry if you so desire or  a sprig of mint.

Sip, savor and smile!

Happy Entertaining!

Shanna

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Raspberry Cream Cake

Posted in Desserts, Easy Recipes, tagged , , , on May 21, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Raspberry Cream Cake

I made this deliciously easy cake the other day and Most Wonderful Hubby declared it was the “best cake you’ve ever made!”

That pleased me quite a bit, I have to tell you. Not only because compliments from MWH are like a happy tonic for me, but also because he is a tough cookie to please when it comes to sweets. His favorite cake in the world is carrot cake and he literally would eat it rather than any other dessert. So to hear that comment from him nearly sent me over the moon.

This cake is so simple and starts out with a basic cake mix.  Enjoy!

The Ingredients. I forgot to include Cream Cheese Frosting, which you will need.

Bake the cake according to package directions. Cool. Then frost layers with cream cheese frosting.

While cake is cooling, rinse raspberries, then sprinkle with sugar.

Once the berries have soaked up the sugar, pat dry, along with mint leaves.

Place raspberry filling on top of frosted first layer.

Place frosted second layer frosting side down on the filling. This way you have a frosting and filling sandwich.

Generously cover cake with whipped cream.

Completely cover cake in luscious mounds of whipped cream.

Yum!

Raspberry Cream Cake

1 box Duncan Hines French Vanilla Cake Mix (18 ounce)

3 eggs

1/2 cup oil

1 1/3 cup water

1 cup of fresh raspberries

1 tbsp.  granulated sugar

1 can of raspberry pie filling (21 oz)

1/3 cup powdered sugar

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 carton of heavy whipping cream (16 oz)

1/2 cup prepared cream cheese frosting

Mint leaves for garnish (optional)

Mix cake mix with eggs, oil and water and bake according to package directions. For this cake, I used two square pans and then cut the two layers in half.  I did this crazy thing because I needed two desserts for two separate small meetings and splitting the cake in half just saved me time. You can use two 9-inch round pans or three 8-inch rounds. Your choice.

Once the cake is baked, let it cool completely.

While it is cooling, wash the raspberries and drain.  In a small bowl, sprinkle 1 tbsp. sugar over the berries and let it soak in. Set aside.

Mix up your whipping cream. Beat it on high until it starts to get thick then add in powdered sugar and vanilla. Finish beating until peaks form and it is a good thick consistency. Stick this in the fridge until you are ready to frost the cake.

By now the sugar should have soaked into the berries. Remove them from the bowl and place on a couple of paper  towels to absorb any extra liquid or juice. If you are garnishing with mint, rinse it off and pat dry while you are doing the berries.

Place your first cake layer on your plate or platter. Using the cream cheese frosting, spread on both the top of this layer and the bottom of the second layer. I did a thin layer, but you can put it on as thick as you like.

Next, spread on about half the can of raspberry pie filling. If you are making a three layer cake, you will use all the filling. If you are making a two layer cake, you will have leftovers. I scooped my leftovers into a Ziploc and tossed in the freezer to use for something tasty in the future.

Place the next cake layer on the filling, frosting side down. The frosting acts like glue to hold the layers together. I learned that the hard way when I made three layers of this cake with just the filling and the layers started sliding every which direction when we attempted to cut it. It wasn’t pretty and I don’t recommend trying it just to see if it will happen. It will.

Now that the top layer is in place, get the whipping cream out of the fridge and liberally spread all over the cake. Feel free to be generous with the whipping cream.

Top off the cake by scattering fresh raspberries across the top. You can garnish with mint leaves if you so desire. I desired because it just looks so pretty!

Put the cake into the fridge until you are ready to serve and when you do, be prepared to enjoy the compliments!

Happy Entertaining!

Shanna

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