Angel Lush Pictures

It's hard to photograph pineapple stuff because I personally think it looks like egg salad, and how gross does an egg salad cake sound? Ick. My attempt turned out well I think, but I made it only two layers instead of three which is actually better because I barely had enough of the filling/topping as it was.









PS- yes i know how bad the lighting is in the pics, my flash makes everything white, and without it, everything is dull and I only have microsoft image viewer to edit it with so whatever

Pineapple Lush Cake

Everyone has probably made this at some point, but I never have although I've been meaning to for a while. Here is the recipe from Dole.com:


1 can (20 oz.) DOLE® Crushed Pineapple, undrained
1 pkg. (4 serving size) JELL-O® Vanilla Flavor Instant
Pudding & Pie Filling
1 cup thawed COOL WHIP® Whipped Topping
1 pkg. (10 oz.) prepared round angel food cake
Seasonal Berries


* Mix pineapple and dry pudding mix in medium bowl. Gently stir in whipped topping. Let stand 5 minutes.

* Cut cake horizontally into 3 layers. Place bottom cake layer, cut side up, on serving plate.

* Spread 1-1/3 cups of the pudding mixture onto cake layer; cover with middle cake layer. Spread 1 cup pudding mixture onto middle cake layer; top with remaining cake layer. Spread with remaining pudding mixture. Refrigerate at least 1 hour or until ready to serve. Garnish with your favorite seasonal berries.


I just finished the Angel Food cake, so when it cools I will be putting it together with the icing and I'll post pics.

Bruschetta and Dip!!

Nick made some awesome Bruschetta with Avocado Dip. The dip was just 3 avocados mixed with two cream cheese packages. Look how awesome:

The Cake

Here is my attempt at that Banana Bundt Crunch Cake; I only had one banana instead of two, but everyone said you could still taste it so thats ok, and I used chopped walnuts instead of pecans. It is very brown, but it's not burnt or anything. I personally would have liked for it to be much sweeter, but thats ok. I think it was done at least 10 min under the specified time, but I just left it in for the whole hour.











Sorry the final pic is so blurry, i didn't realize it until i got home and i left the cake at my friends house so i can't re-take it.

Coconut Pecan Frosting Mix

Ok so for the previous recipe, you are going to need this:

"Do you have a recipe calling for dry coconut pecan frosting mix and found that it is no longer available? Well, no need to fret! Pillsbury has provided this helpful recipe for cooks who still want to use those tasty recipes calling for the mix!"

Coconut Pecan Frosting Mix Substitute

1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
3/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup chopped pecans
3 tablespoons butter or margarine

1. In medium bowl, combine coconut, brown sugar, flour, and pecans; mix well.
2. Using fork or pastry blender cut in butter or margarine.

Source: Pillsbury Bake-Off Cookbook; March, 1995.

Banana Crunch Cake

I almost forgot! As I was shopping, I came across an Amish Cookbook that had a recipe in it for "Banana Crunch Cake" and it sounded pretty good. I didn't end up getting that recipe book but I looked it up online and a version of it turned out to be the 1973 Pillsbury Bake off winner!!!! However, the main difference between the two is that the Amish version uses "1 pkg. coconut pecan icing mix" which I didn't even know existed, and it seems less complicated so that is the version I am going to attempt (if I can find that mix) since I have a ripe banana sitting around.

Here is the Amish Version:

BANANA BUNDT CRUNCH CAKE

5 tbsp. butter
1 pkg. coconut pecan icing mix
1 c. rolled oats
4 eggs
1 c. sour cream
2 lg. bananas
1 pkg. yellow cake mix

Combine butter, icing mix and rolled oats; set aside. In large bowl blend together eggs, sour cream, bananas and cake mix for 2 minutes. Pour 1/3 batter into well greased bundt pan then 1/3 crumb mix. Repeat twice. Bake 1 hour at 350 degrees or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool 15 minutes before turning out.

Amish Country (lots of pics!)

This past week I spent in the New Wilmington/Volant/Grove City, PA area and got to buy some pretty cool stuff at the Outlets and the local Amish Shops. Here is what I got:

1st some HUGE cookies (at least 4 inches !)from the Rockey Mountain Chocolate Factory (Not Amish):

Shortbread


Butter Toffee (MY FAVE!!)


Apple Something (not my fave, too crunchy)


And at the Heinz Store at the Outlets I got this toy:


Next, some candy marshmallows, just like in Lucky Charms but I didn't have to pick them all out of the box! I have no idea what I am going to make with these, so if you have any ideas, let me know!



Finally, some pictures of the local Amish (taken while my bf was driving, so they aren't that great) and then some pictures of the Amish made mini-pie and honey butter that I bought:







I have never had Honey-Butter before, and this pack has 4 varieties so I am very excited to try them all!! The apple pie was for my mom, I got myself a black-raspberry one, that was AMAZING! The crust held the little pie up all on its own without any pie plate but was still soft to eat!!

I am also excited for this new cookbook I got from Westminster College, where I almost attended (but went to PSU instead for $ reasons)

I'm going to go through it tonight so I'll post any superfun recipes.

Gau

Gau

So I made this Crispy Baked Gau recipe that I got from Anna at cookiemadness.net It's a Chinese New Year dessert thing, and it's made with rice flour and no eggs. Basically it came out like one of those gross rice cakes with the jelly-like insides. I don't know what I messed up, but I messed it up royally.









See, it looked good on the outside but on the inside:

EWWW


It was supposed to look like this:



And yes, I did cook it the length i was supposed to.

Crispy Baked Gau
(by Cassandra Aoki)

1 (16 oz) box mochiko (sweet rice flour)
2 cups brown sugar
3/4 granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 (13.5 oz) can coconut milk
2 cups milk
2 teaspoons good vanilla extract
2 tablespoons sesame seeds

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8x12 inch pan with Release foil, non-stick side up.

In a large bowl, combine mochiko, both sugars and baking soda. Pour coconut milk, regular milk and vanilla into a bowl and stir until well mixed. Don’t over stir. Pour into pan. Sprinkle sesame seeds over top.

Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes. Let cool in pan for 30 minutes, then grasp foil and lift from pan. Cut into bars.