White Chocolate Oreo Popcorn

I made this for my neighbor gifts this year and it is so yummy and simple!

What you'll need:
-1 C. White chocolate chips
-Oreos
-Popcorn (Either 1 bag popped or 1 batch in the air popper)

Directions: Make your popcorn, set aside. Take out a row of Oreos and crush them in a ziploc bag using your fingers (you could also use a rolling pin), set aside. Melt the white chocolate chips in the microwave on 50% power for 30 seconds and then in 15 second increments until all chips are melted. (Note: If you use too much heat the chips turn into dough...I, of course, didn't ruin half a bag by doing this...).

Place popcorn in a fairly large bowl, pour the melted white chocolate over the popcorn, add the crushed oreos, mix carefully until the popcorn and oreos are coated. You can then either leave it in the bowl or pour it out onto a cookie sheet for the chocolate to harden. Voila! You are done!

*Picture from google images

Cupcakes & Cake Bites

My son's birthday was yesterday and we had a little BBQ with a few friends. I wanted to keep it really simple, but fun for him. We made these cupcakes and they were not only beautiful, but absolutely delicious. All I needed to get with these were a few brightly-colored table top covers and some Mickey Mouse balloons and everyone foolishly thought I outdid myself. I have made a really complicated chocolate cupcake one time from scratch and these were not only easy, but someone at the party said, "These are the best cupcakes I have ever had." Wow :)

I also made these cake bites from Bakerella. The first 10 were practice because I didn't stick the lollipop stick far enough into the cake, but they came out looking really good after I figured that out. I bought some rainbow colored jelly bellies (the sour ones would look best, but I just put together different colors) and put them in a glass bowl. Then I put the pops in like a flower arrangement. I wish I had taken a picture, but my battery died! If you need a fun theme, here you go!

I won't post the recipes because they do need instruction so I'll just post the links.

Strawberry Cream Puff Cake

Sundays are dessert days and when I usually try something new for a dessert. I don't think I bought anything to make this because I had everything already. It was so good and that cream cheese whip cream is addicting. I could have just eaten that out of a bowl. I got it from here. Enjoy!

Cream Puff Base:
5 tablespoons butter
2/3 cup water
1 tablespoon sugar
2/3 cup flour
3 eggs

Cream Cheese Mixture:
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon fresh orange zest
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2/3 cup powdered sugar

For the cream puff layer, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Bring the butter, water and sugar to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add the flour all at once and stir quickly until the mixture pulls away from the sides of the pan. Remove the pan from the heat and stir the mixture until smooth. Let cool for 5 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time and beat until the mixture is shiny with a satiny sheen. Don’t overbeat. Lightly grease the bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan (or in a pinch, you could use a 9-inch circle cake pan). Using an offset spatula, spread the mixture on the bottom and one inch up the sides of the prepared pan. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and prick pastry with a toothpick 10-12 times. Return to the oven and bake 5-10 minutes more until golden brown but not overbaked (you can insert a toothpick into the center and if it comes out with sticky dough, it still needs longer in the oven). Cool completely.

For the cream cheese mixture, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Gradually add the powdered sugar (if you want to ensure there are no lumps, sift the powdered sugar into the cream cheese) and beat with the cream cheese until mixture is smooth and light. Add the remaining ingredients and beat until stiff peaks form. Spread onto the cooled cream puff shell.

Top with fresh sliced strawberries (I mixed 2 cups of strawberries with 1 teaspoon sugar and let them hang out in the fridge while I was prepping the cake) or you can use a 16-ounce bag of frozen strawberries that have been thawed. Mix the thawed strawberries and juice with 1-2 teaspoons sugar and bring to a simmer in a saucepan. Cook until slightly thickened. Cool completely and use as topping for the cake.

Rockin' Chocolate Chip Cookies

**These were hard to track down so please appreciate and enjoy them-they are awesome!!

By Amy Snyder


Ingredients:

½ C. (1 Stick) Butter, softened to room temperature
½ C. Peanut Butter (creamy or chunky)
¾ C. Granulated Sugar
¾ C. Brown Sugar
1 tsp. Vanilla
2 Large Eggs
1 tsp. Baking Soda
½ tsp. Salt
2 ¼ C. Bread Flour
¾ Package Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips (approx 8-9 oz)

Instructions:

Blend butter, peanut butter and sugars on med-high speed for 1 minute. Add vanilla and eggs. Continue blending. Add baking soda and salt. Slowly add flour and chocolate chips.
Drop by generous spoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheet
Bake at 375 degrees for 8-9minutes
Remove cookies to cooling rack
Yields 2-3 dozen cookies

Apple Crisp

This is from the cookbook-
California Pizza Kitchen

Apple Crisp Topping
½ cup (1 Stick) unsalted butter chilled
1.5 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
1 tespoon salt
1 1/3 cups all-pourpsoe flour plus extra for dusting

Apple Mixture
3.5 pounds granny smith apples
2/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/3 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ tespoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon tuaca liqueur (optional)

Preparation for Topping

Generously dust a work surface with flour. Put the butter on the four-dusted surface, and using a knife, cut it into 1/8 inch dice, turning the pieces in the flour to coat them. In a mixing bowl, gently toss together the butter dice, brown sugar, slat and the 1 1/3 cups flour, do not over blend. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.

Preparation for the Apple Crisp

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

Peel and core the apples and cut them into 1/8 inch thick crescent-shaped slices. In a mixing bowl, gently toss together the apple slices, sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon, vanilla extract, and , if you like the Tuaca. Set aside at room temperature until the apples begin to give off their juices, about 10 minutes.

Transfer the Apple Mixture to a 2-quart rectangular glass baking dish; spread it out well making sure to fill the corners and spaces, and leave a slight depression in the center of the dish. Remove the topping mixture from the refrigerator. Grab a handful and squeeze tightly to compress it into a solid piece, then hold the compressed topping over the baking dish and crumble it by hand into small ½ to ¾ inch pieces, strewing them over the apples, repeat with the remaining topping.

Place the baking dish directly on the oven rack and bake until the apples begin to turn a rosy color and the juices thicken, about 2 hours. (Rotate the dish occasionally so the topping browns evenly and does not burn, if it appears to be browning too quickly, loosely drape it with aluminum foil.) When the crisp is done, leave it at room temperature until it cools enough to cut into individual servings, about 20 minutes. Cut the crisp into 6 pieces and serve with your favorite ice cream. To re-warm individual servings of the crisp, place them in microwave proof dishes and heat in the microwave on high power for about 20 seconds.

Brownies

I made these brownies about every other day when I was pregnant and couldn't get enough of them! They are better than a box I promise!

Best Ever Brownies

Ingredients:

½ cup butter

1 cup white sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

½ cup all-purpose flour

¼ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. baking powder

½ bag chocolate chunks (optional for more chocolaty goodness!)

Frosting:

3 TBSP butter, softened

3 TBSP unsweetened cocoa powder

1 TBSP honey

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup confectioners’ sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour an 8 inch square pan.

In a large saucepan, melt butter. Remove from heat, and stir in sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Beat in cocoa, flour, salt, and baking powder. Spread batter into prepared pan.

Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Do not overcook.

To make frosting: combine butter, cocoa, honey, vanilla, and confectioners’ sugar. Frost brownies while they are still warm.

If you double the recipe – it should cook in about 30 minutes. Put a toothpick about 2 inches from the edge of pan and it should be almost clean. This keeps them fudgy!

Superbowl Cupcakes

These cupcakes were absolutely divine...but a little too rich for me. Next time, I would suggest not putting the football on top or just doing the footballs and making the footballs much smaller than I did. I got the recipe here from a blog called Cookies and Cups and will not repost it since the instructions are all in her own words, she is humorous to read, and I don't want to be that much of a copycat. She has a lot of great ideas, so I will return to her blog, but here is a picture and lets just say they are chocolate cupcakes with oreo whipped cream filling with buttercream frosting topped with a Bakerella cream cheese oreo truffle. Yeah, now you know what I mean when I say there was just a little too much going on!

Apple-Cinn Bread Pudding

I saw this on Food Network (Semi-Homemade with Sandra Lee) and decided to give it a try. It is not a super sweet dessert and I have to say I have only had one other bread pudding that I have liked in the past. It isn't something I would make a ton, but wasn't heavy or too sweet and I liked it!

Ingredients

• 3 eggs, beaten
• 2 cups milk, cream, or combination
• 1 1/2 teaspoons rum extract
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
  
• 6 cups cinnamon bread, cubed (about 15 slices)
• 1 (20 1/2-ounce) can apple pie filling
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 2 packets apple cinnamon instant oatmeal (recommended: Quaker Oats)

Sauce:

• 1/2 cup ginger ale
• 1 package whipped topping mix (recommended: Dream Whip)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon rum extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

In a bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, rum extract, salt, and brown sugar. Stir in raisin bread, pie filling, raisins, and oatmeal packets until bread cubes are moist. Spray a 9 by 12-inch baking dish with the pan spray and pour the mixture into the dish. Set aside for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Bake pudding until it has risen, browned, and a knife inserted in center comes out clean, about 30 to 40 minutes.

For sauce: combine all ingredients in a bowl and blend with a hand mixer until stiff peaks form. Serve bread with a dollop of sauce. Cover and chill until ready to use.

Macadamia Butter Cookies with Dried Cranberries

We love these thick, satisfying cookies as humble as peanut butter cookies but not as crumbly. Dried cranberries provide a slightly tart counterpoint to the macadamia nuts' richness. The dough is somewhat sticky; chilling it briefly makes handling easier.

Yield: 30 servings (serving size: 1 cookie)
Ingredients
2/3 cup macadamia nuts
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup sweetened dried cranberries, chopped
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
Preparation
Preheat oven to 375°.

Place nuts in a food processor; process until smooth (about 2 minutes), scraping sides of bowl once. Combine macadamia butter, 1/2 cup granulated sugar, and brown sugar in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed. Add vanilla and egg; beat well.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking soda, salt, and ground nutmeg, stirring with a whisk. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture; beat at low speed just until combined (mixture will be very thick). Stir in chopped cranberries. Chill 10 minutes.

Divide chilled dough into 30 equal portions; roll each portion into a ball. Place 1 tablespoon granulated sugar in a small bowl. Lightly press each ball into sugar; place each ball, sugar side up, on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper.

Gently press the top of each cookie with a fork. Dip the fork in water; gently press the top of each cookie again to form a crisscross pattern. Place 15 cookies on each of 2 baking sheets.

Bake cookies, 1 baking sheet at a time, at 375° for 9 minutes or until golden. Remove cookies from pan; cool on a wire rack. Repeat procedure with remaining cookies.

Nutritional Information
Calories:
76 (30% from fat)
Fat:
2.5g (sat 0.4g,mono 1.8g,poly 0.1g)
Protein:
1g
Carbohydrate:
13.2g
Fiber:
0.6g
Cholesterol:
7mg
Iron:
0.5mg
Sodium:
44mg
Calcium:
7mg

Coconut Cupcakes with Lime Buttercream Frosting

Find potato starch in the supermarket baking aisle. Use lemon rind and fresh lemon juice in place of the lime for a variation.

Yield: 12 servings (serving size: 1 cupcake)
Ingredients
CUPCAKES:
Cooking spray
4.5 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1 cup)
3 tablespoons potato starch
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 large egg
1 large egg white
2/3 cup fat-free milk
2 tablespoons flaked sweetened coconut
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

FROSTING:
3 tablespoons butter, softened
1 teaspoon half-and-half
1/2 teaspoon grated lime rind
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
4.75 ounces powdered sugar, sifted (about 1 1/3 cups)
Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. To prepare cupcakes, place 2 muffin cup liners in each of 12 muffin cups; coat liners with cooking spray.

3. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 3 ingredients (through salt) in a small bowl; stir with a whisk.

4. Combine 3/4 cup sugar and 2 tablespoons butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until blended (mixture will be the consistency of damp sand). Add egg and egg white, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour mixture and milk alternately to egg mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Fold in coconut and vanilla.

5. Spoon batter evenly into prepared muffin cups. Bake at 350° for 18 minutes or until cupcakes spring back when touched lightly in the center. Cool in pan 2 minutes; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

6. To prepare frosting, combine 3 tablespoons butter and next 3 ingredients (through juice) in a medium bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth. Gradually add the powdered sugar, beating just until smooth. Spread about 2 1/2 teaspoons frosting onto each cupcake.

Nutritional Information
Calories:
196
Fat:
5.6g (sat 3.4g,mono 1.4g,poly 0.3g)
Protein:
2.5g
Carbohydrate:
34.8g
Fiber:
0.3g
Cholesterol:
31mg
Iron:
0.7mg
Sodium:
179mg
Calcium:
52mg
Kathleen Kanen, Cooking Light, MAY 2009

Coconut Lemon Snowballs~MyRecipes.Com

Lemon and coconut add a new twist to the traditional wedding cookie. Don't be shy when rolling these in powdered sugar--the more powdered sugar, the bigger the snowball!

Prep: 25 min.; Cook: 20 min. per batch; Other: 35 min.

Gift idea; Make ahead

Yield: 2 dozen
Ingredients
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon coconut extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoons grated lemon rind
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sweetened flaked coconut, lightly toasted
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
Preparation
Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy; gradually add 1/2 cup powdered sugar and extracts, beating well. Add flour, lemon rind, and salt, beating until combined. Stir in coconut. Cover and chill dough 30 minutes.

Shape dough into generous 1" balls; place 1" apart on parchment paper-lined baking sheets. Bake at 350° for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden on bottom, but pale on top. Transfer cookies to wire racks to cool 5 minutes.

Place 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar in a bowl, and roll warm cookies in powdered sugar, coating well. Cool cookies completely on wire racks. Roll cooled cookies in powdered sugar again, coating well.

Christmas with Southern Living, Oxmoor House, DECEMBER 2007

Snickerdoodle Pie

I found this recipe in a recent magazine. My husband LOVES snickerdoodle cookies, so I just had to try this pie and make it for him! It is SUPER easy and very yummy!! If I can make it and have it turn out, you can definitely make it!! It turns out to be a custard type pie. Enjoy!!

• 1 Flaky Pie Crust (or I just used a pre-made large graham cracker crust and it was still really good!)
• 1 cup sugar
• 4 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
• 4 large egg yolks
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1 Tbsp sugar

Make and cool pie crust. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Set the rack in the lower third of oven. Line a baking sheet with foil and set in on the oven rack while oven preheats. In a large bowl, whisk together melted butter, buttermilk, egg yolks, flour, vanilla, salt and 1 cup sugar. Pour into chilled pie crust. In a small bowl mix together the cinnamon and 1 Tbsp sugar. Sprinkle cinnamon-sugar mixture over custard. Set pie on preheated baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Without opening oven, reduce temperature to 325 degrees and bake 20 more minutes. Let cool on a wire rack. Cool in refrigerator. Serve cold.

Low Fat Pumpkin Mousse

For those of you craving pumpkin this time of year and want something easy to make, here is a recipe for you!

1 15oz can pumpkin pie filling
3 cups milk
1 small box sugar-free instant vanilla pudding
1 small box sugar-free instant butterscotch pudding
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1cup cool whip

Mix milk and pudding powder together. Then add pumpkin and pumpkin spice. Fold in cool whip and refrigerate for at least an hour. Enjoy!

Option: Right before serving, I have even mixed in teddy grahams. It tastes like pumpkin pie!

Nutty Caramel Cookie Tart

We made this on Sunday because I saw it on the Food Network Pillsbury challenge. It was not a winner on the show, but a winner in my book. So good! I did not put chopped peanuts on it, though, just because that didn't sound very good to me. I also put a few butterscotch chips just because I had them. I thought I had overcooked the cookie, but it turned out perfect. It was super easy too.
Go here for the recipe and eat it up, yum!

Chocolate Mint Pinwheel Cookies

I was searching online for cookies and came across this recipe. It uses a Betty Crocker sugar cookie pouch and is very tasty.

http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes.aspx/chocolate-mint-pinwheels

What you'll need:
1 pouch of Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie mix
1 egg
1/2 C. softened butter
2 Tbs. flour
1/2 tsp. mint extract (peppermint)
green food coloring
wax/parchment paper

First, mix the sugar cookie pouch with 1 egg and 1/2 C. softened butter. Divide the dough in half. Mix 1/4C cocoa to one half. Mix flour, 1/2 tsp. mint extract and 2-3 drops of green food coloring to the other half of the dough.

Roll the chocolate dough between two sheets of wax paper to about 8 in. x 14 in. Set aside. Roll the mint dough between 2 new sheets of wax paper to about the same size. (I used parchment paper and it worked fine too.)

Remove the top sheets from the mint dough and the chocolate dough and carefully lay the mint dough on top of the chocolate dough. Slowly roll the dough starting at the long side. (note: if you do it too quickly, like me, you'll end up with air pockets -- see below. Also, I rolled from the short end -- more design, less cookies). Wrap rolled dough in wax paper and freeze for at least 2 hours.

After 2 hours, cut dough into slices 1/4 in. wide.

Bake at 375 for 9-11 minutes.

Enjoy!

Yummy Sugar Free Snack

I found this idea on Sparkpeople and tried it today. It was so good.

• 1 banana, sliced
• 1 chocolate, sugar free pudding snack pack
• 1 very large dollop of lite whipped topping

= about 200 calories. I love it! I also added strawberries and raspberries, but think it would have been better just with the above ingredients.

Texas Sheet Cake

Texas Sheet Cake

Melt:
2 TBSP cocoa
2 cubes margarine
1 cup water

Prepare:
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 tsp. soda

Pour hot mixture into dry ingredients

Add:
1/2 cup sour milk (to make sour milk - do milk less 1 TBSP vinegar)
2 eggs beaten
1 tsp. vanilla

Bake in large sheetcake pan at 350 for 18-20 minutes

Frosting:
1 square margarine
4 TBSP cocoa
6 TBSP milk
4-5 cups confectioners sugar

When cake is done, layer a bag of miniature marshmallows over top and put back in oven till marshmallows start to brown. Take out and let cool. Spread frosting over top. Enjoy!

Dulce de Leche Cheesecake Squares

I dedicate this post to my cousins, who have asked for this recipe long ago and I was a slacker and never passed it on. I have made these for 2 baby showers and they were a hit. My mom found them and they are from this website.

This is one of those recipes you have to go slow and read all the directions carefully. I had trouble my first batch and then my second was decent. My third and fourth I made simultaneously with ease with the new love of my life, my food processor. It is a very rich dessert - really not one of those you can eat a huge piece of. Delish - enjoy!

Dulce de Leche Cheesecake Squares
Adapted from Gourmet, December 2003

Time: 9 3/4 hr (includes chilling) (45 minutes active time)
Makes 64 (1-inch) petits fours

Ingredients:

For crust
3 1/2 oz graham crackers, crumbled (1cup)
2 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

For filling
1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin (from a 1/4-oz envelope, will just about half of envelope)
1/4 cup whole milk
8 oz cream cheese, softened
2 large eggs
3/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup dulce de leche (12 1/2 oz) (recipe follows)

For glaze
3 oz fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened), coarsely chopped
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2 teaspoons light corn syrup

Directions:

Make crust: Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 325°F. Line bottom and sides of an 8-inch square baking pan with 2 sheets of foil (crisscrossed), leaving a 2-inch overhang on all sides.

Finely grind crackers with sugar and a pinch of salt in a food processor. With motor running, add butter, blending until combined. Press mixture evenly onto bottom of baking pan. Bake 10 minutes, then cool in pan on a rack 5 minutes.

Make filling: Sprinkle gelatin over milk in a small bowl and let stand 2 minutes to soften. Beat together cream cheese, eggs, salt, and gelatin mixture in a bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until well combined, about 2 minutes, then stir in dulce de leche gently but thoroughly. Pour filling over crust, smoothing top, then bake in a hot water bath (I was able to fit mine in a 9×13-inch baking pan) in oven until center is just set, about 45 minutes. Cool cheesecake completely in pan on rack, about 2 hours. Chill, covered, at least 6 hours.

Glaze cake within 2 hours of serving: Heat all glaze ingredients in a double boiler or a small metal bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water, stirring until smooth, then pour over cheesecake, tilting baking pan to coat top evenly. Chill, uncovered, 30 minutes.

Lift cheesecake from pan using foil overhang and cut into 1-inch squares with a thin knife, wiping off knife after each cut. (Don’t skip this step! A clean knife is essential for uber-neat squares.)

Note: Cheesecake (without glaze) can be chilled up to 3 days.

Dulce de Leche (Milk Caramel)

Pour 1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk into top of double-boiler pan; cover. Place over boiling water. Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, for 40 to 50 minutes, or until thick and light caramel-colored.

Remove from heat. Whisk until smooth.

Texas Sheet Cake

Sorry Tricia this is late - I just remembered :( Not the best picture, but this was Texas Sheet Cake. I know Cara has a recipe so if she wants to post hers too I'd love to try her recipe sometime and have a cake-off!


Combine dry ingredients:

• 2 cups sugar
• 2 cups flour
  
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda

Melt 1 cup water, 2 sticks margarine, and 5 Tbs cocoa.

Combine all ingredients, plus:

• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup buttermilk (I usually just use my cream or milk and put 1-2 tsp of lemon juice and let it stand for five minutes and it will curdle)

Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or so - just watch and when toothpick or knife comes out clean, your cake is done.

Frosting: the key is to make the frosting while your cake is in the oven and put the frosting on the hot cake as soon as you take the cake out of the oven.
Melt 1 stick margarine and 4 Tbs. cocoa together.
Add to 1 tsp vanilla and 3 1/2 cups of powdered sugar. Add cream until it reaches the desired consistency.

Spread frosting on hot cake and let stand until ready to serve. If the cake stands until cooled, just heat each piece you serve for a few seconds in the microwave and the frosting soaks into the cake. Besides that, any cake that requires 3 sticks of margarine or butter is a good cake recipe, right? You can bake this in a 9x13 pan or on a cookie sheet for brownies. My mom used to do cut it on a cookie sheet and put it in saran wrap and freeze them. It was a fantastic after school snack.

Raspberry Trifle

This recipe is so easy it's not even a real recipe, but it's delicious.
We have it for Christmas Eve, but it works anytime and you can change the flavor of filling or the fruit.

TRIFLE

1 frozen Sara Lee pound cake (you can use fresh too)
1 large package Instant Vanilla pudding
1 package raspberries or 1 bag frozen raspberries
thawed and drained
2-3 kiwi - peeled and sliced
1 container Cool Whip (I use Lite)


Slice the pound cake in cubes. Put one half in the bottom of a glass trifle dish, or punch bowl.
Prepare the pudding as directed on package and spread one-half on top of the cake.
Layer all the kiwi along the sides of the glass container vertically so you can see from the outside and spread any remaining on top of the pudding.
Spread one-half of the raspberries (reserve about 5)
Cover with Cool-Whip
Repeat cake, pudding, raspberries and Cool-Whip
Top with remaining raspberries.
Refrigerate until serving.

So easy and always impressive!!