Condiment Cake

condiment cake                                                        

In my never ending quest for unusual, I was determined to combine some odd ingredients and produce a whopping good cake.

5 ounces dried cherries, chopped

Toss with:

1 tablespoon flour

Set aside.

18.5 ounce Devil’s Food cake mix

4 ounce package instant chocolate pudding

¼ cup mocha powder

Mix together and add:

1 cup Hellman’s mayonnaise

½ cup Dr. Pepper Cherry Chocolate ice cream syrup

½ cup vegetable oil

Beat until smooth.  Then add:

4 eggs

Beat after each egg addition and fold in:

2 cups chocolate chips

chopped cherries

Bake at 350° in a greased full-sized 9x13 pan for 43 minutes. Let set overnight and serve.  This is good with ice cream and whipped cream, but it really doesn’t need anything to enhance it.  It is moist and delicious.

Gidget's dress reminds me of this great cake...chocolate and cherries in a crazy combination.

Chocolate Potato Cake

chocolate potato cake

This cake reminds me of one I had in Nashville, at Rotiers.

Combine:

1 cup mashed potatoes

1 cup hot water

Allow to cool.  Set aside. Cream:

⅔ cup butter

2 cups granulated sugar

Add:

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 eggs, one at a time

Add:

2 cups flour

¾ cup cocoa powder

2¼ teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

pinch of salt

2 teaspoons mocha powder

Slowly add the cooled mashed potato mixture. When batter is smooth add:

1 cup chocolate morsels

Bake in a greased 9x13 inch pan at 350˚ for 38 minutes.  Serve warm or briefly warm individual servings in microwave.  Top with ice cream.



Maryann is looking like a chocolate dream!

 Of course, Maryann had the food made for her New Year's Day brunch in the freezer for weeks.  She and her party will be a smashing success.  There will be rack of lamb, tiny fingerling potatoes and baby peas and the decadent chocolate cake for dessert...don't forget the black-eyed peas for luck.

New Year's Eve in the Barbie Nation

Everyone in the Barbie Nation loves ham rolls.  We've been serving them at parties for as long as I can remember.  It is also a great use for some of that leftover holiday ham.

ham rolls

A top five party food!

6 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

2 sticks butter

Cream together butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy. Stir in flour until thoroughly mixed.

2 cups flour

Store in refrigerator an hour or so before rolling out. Roll about 1/2-inch thick and cut out in a rectangle.

2 cups baked ham, ground

brown sugar

1 cup grated cheese, optional

I grind my ham by cutting it in chunks and then giving it a whirl in the food processor with the sharp blade.  You can also use a meat grinding attachment on the Kitchen-Aid.  Dust the dough lightly with brown sugar. Sprinkle with ground baked ham. If you want cheese, add it now. Roll jelly roll fashion and cut into 3/8 inch slices. Bake 20 minutes at 400˚ on cookie sheet. Serve hot with mustard or just plain.

**If you make them bite-size, cook 13 minutes.**  Divide the dough in half and make two jelly rolls. This makes 60 one-inch rolls that are perfect for an appetizer tray.

Annette lucked out, as usual. She managed to snag this silvery dream of an evening dress AND a spot as a duchess at the Shimmer Ball when one of the participants backed out at the last minute.  She will be among the high-rollers at this event.  She'll probably come home in a Rolls Royce.  It makes playing dumb seem like a smart move.  Unfortunately for Annette, she really is missing some gray matter.

Chocolate Caramel Cookies

This is your little Christmas Bonus from me this year.  I finally worked out this recipe just in time for the holidays. I was looking for something not too chocolate and not mixed with nuts or chips.
chocolate caramel cookies
1 cup (two sticks) butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
Cream the butter and sugars until they are completely combined and fluffy.  Then add:
2 eggs
Continue beating and add:
6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted
(It takes about 45 seconds in the microwave and then stir until smooth)
Add to mixture until combined.  Then add:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
Thoroughly combine and chill 4 hours or overnight.  Allow the dough to warm a little if you cannot easily form it into 1-inch balls.  Make a little nest in each cookies and place 1/2 of a caramel in each nest.
Werther's Original Creamy Caramels - 2 bags or about 40 caramels
Place the cookies on a parchment lined cookie sheet.  Only 12 will fit on each sheet, as they spread during baking. Bake at 350 degrees about 12 minutes. Cool on pan until you can remove the entire parchment sheet and allow cookies to cool completely on the parchment. Makes 80 cookies.
While they are cooling, mix up the glaze.
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
Cook the butter in the microwave for about three minutes until the butter solids start to brown.  You can just melt the butter, but the browning adds to the depth of flavor.  Do Not burn the butter! To the butter, add:
2 cups confectioners' sugar
3/4 cup Trader Joe's Fleur de sal Caramel Sauce
1/4 cup heavy cream
Beat until smooth.  Put the glaze in a Wilton Candy making container that looks like a squeeze ketchup bottle.  You need to do this while the icing is still warm.  If it gets too stiff as it cools, just remove the squeeze top and give it five seconds in the microwave. Drizzle over cookies in one direction and then the other.  You will have tons of glaze, so be generous.  After the cookies are cross-hatched with glaze, just raise the height of the squeeze bottle and fling the remainder of the glaze over the cookies in a spider web fashion. (see photo)

Christmas Kolaches

kolaches

My mother-in-law was famous for her kolaches.  This recipe does a good job of replicating her scrumptious treats. My family expects them every Christmas morning. Hope I'm not in trouble...I just made cherry-filled this year.

2 cups milk

Heat milk to 120°. Add butter and allow to soften.

1/2 cup butter

Add sugar and salt.

1/2 cup sugar

2 teaspoons salt

Put flour in bowl, add yeast.

4 cups flour

5 teaspoons instant dry yeast

Pour in milk mixture, stir and add eggs.

3 egg yolks

Add flour as needed.

1 cups potato flour

1 cup or less of additional all-purpose flour

Knead until smooth and let rise until double. Knead 10 more times and shape into 1 1/2 ounce balls on greased cookie sheet. Makes 30.

1 or 2 large cans pie filling:  cherry and/or blueberry

Drain excess filling from fruit by placing it in a strainer.  Season each filling with ½ cup sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla.

Flatten centers of the kolaches with thumb (make a good size hole) and fill with fruit filling. Let rise until double in size. Brush tops with melted butter.

Top with kolache crumble:

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup flour

4 tablespoons butter

1/2 teaspoon of vanilla

Cut ingredients together to make crumble and sprinkle on kolaches just before baking. Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes. You can also stuff with little smokies sausages instead of fruit filling. 



Let kolaches rise.



Ice with glaze when cooked.

Glaze:
3 tablespoons butter, melted
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup cream (or enough to make smooth glaze)

Betty is ready to get off her feet!

After two shifts at IHop, Betty is just grateful to be sitting down and listening to some of her favorite 45's. The tips are getting better the closer it gets to Christmas.  She is hoping to make enough extra to give her mother, Jolene a new coffee maker. These delicious kolaches demand a really good cup of coffee or hot chocolate.

White Texas Sheet Cake

When the crowd gathers for holiday festivities, there is nothing faster and easier than a sheet cake.  You'll love this for Christmas or ringing in the New Year.

white texas sheet cake

This is very moist for a white cake and it serves a crowd.

cake

Heat butter and water in a glass bowl in the microwave for 2½ minutes.

1 cup (2 sticks) butter

1 cup water

Stir in following ingredients:

2 cups flour

2 cups granulated sugar

2 eggs

½ cup sour cream

2 teaspoons almond extract

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

Mix until smooth.  Pour into greased 9x13 inch baking pan.  Bake at 375° for 25 minutes.  Cool for 20 minutes.

icing

½ cup (one stick) butter

⅓ cup milk

Microwave the butter and milk for 1½ minutes.  Mix in remaining ingredients.  Spread on warm cake.

4½ cups confectioners’ sugar

½ teaspoon almond extract

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Top with almonds.

2½ ounces toasted almond slivers

Our own snow queen, Lucy, is dreaming of a white Christmas.  She found this little item in one of the local over-priced tourist traps in Aspen.  Cha-ching on the credit card. What guy wouldn't like to find her sitting under his tree Christmas morning? Too bad she can't find someone worthy of the pricey negligee.

Thanks to My New Followers

I always love comments and appreciate my followers. It makes me feel connected to my audience. If you would like to become a follower, just sign up at the bottom of the page of blog entries.  It is that simple.  Then you can keep up with Fashion Plate without having to go to the website.
It DOES NOT give me access to your email, so relax and enjoy fashions from the Barbie Nation and delicious recipes from my kitchen and cookbooks and NO annoying ads!
It has been an exciting three months for the blog and I thank you for your interest.  I want to give a special shout out to my newest followers, Love Spirit and Audrey.  Welcome to the family!
Thanks to all of you who have checked out my new store on Etsy, Coco's Cache.  I'm glad you like the smock/aprons.

 Happy holiday wishes to my readers!