Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Recipe and Photo Courtesy of allrecipes.com
Modified


Ingredients

* 4 eggs
* 1/2 cup butter
* 1 cup packed light brown sugar
* 1 (20 ounce) can sliced pineapple (reserve juice)
* Maraschino cherries(about 5 or 6), halved
* 1 cup sifted cake flour
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1 cup white sugar
* 1 tablespoon butter, melted
* 1 teaspoon almond extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

2. In a cast iron skillet (I use a 12"), melt 1/2 cup butter or margarine over very low heat. Remove from heat, and sprinkle brown sugar evenly over pan. Arrange pineapple slices to cover bottom of skillet. Distribute cherries around pineapple; set aside.

3. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt.

4. Separate the eggs into two bowls. In a large bowl, beat egg whites just until soft peaks form. Add granulated sugar gradually, beating well after each addition. Beat until stiff peaks form. In a small bowl, beat egg yolks at high speed until very thick and yellow. With a wire whisk or rubber scraper, using an over-and-under motion, gently fold egg yolks and flour mixture into whites until blended. Fold in 1/3 cup of the reserved pineapple juice, 1 tablespoon melted butter and almond extract. Spread batter evenly over pineapple in skillet.

5. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until surface springs back when gently pressed with fingertip. Loosen the edges of the cake with table knife. Cool the cake for 5 minutes before inverting onto serving plate.

Strawberry Ice Cream

Photo Credit

INGREDIENTS:
1 pint fresh strawberries, hulled and chopped
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 large eggs
1 cup sugar, divided
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:
1. Combine strawberries, lemon juice, and 1/4 cup sugar in a mixing bowl, set aside in fridge for 1 hour.
2. In large mixing bowl beat eggs until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
3. Gradually add 3/4 cups sugar, mixing well. Stir in milk and vanilla and mix well.
4. Pour mixture into saucepan and heat to 170 degrees. Cool, then store in fridge until chilled.
5. Add strawberries with juice and mix well. Gently stir in whipping cream just until combined.
6. Pour into ice cream maker and follow manufacturer's instructions.

Banana Cake

Recipe and Photo Courtesy of allrecipes.com

INGREDIENTS
3/4 cup butter
2 cups white sugar
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 1/2 cups ripe, mashed bananas

Directions
Preheat oven to 275 degrees F (this is not a typo - bake this cake low and slow). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan. In a small bowl, mix mashed bananas with lemon juice, set aside. In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in 2 teaspoons vanilla. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk. Stir in banana mixture. Pour batter into prepared pan.

Bake in preheated oven for 60 - 80 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Do not over bake. Remove from oven and place directly into freezer for 45 minutes. This will make the cake very moist.

Frost with Cream Cheese Frosting and sprinkle with nuts, if desired. This is a dense cake, but oh so good.

Autumn Apple Salad

Makes 4 Servings

INGREDIENTS
4 tart green apples, cored and chopped (peeled also, if desired)
1/2 cup blanched slivered almonds, toasted
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 (8 ounce) container vanilla yogurt

DIRECTIONS
In a medium bowl, stir together the apples, almonds, cranberries, and yogurt until evenly coated.

Lemon Bars

I am on a lifelong journey to bake the perfect lemon bars. This is my recipe so far. I tweak it a little every time I make them... I'm still working on it.

Picture Courtesy of 'What a Dish!' from Allrecipes

INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
3/4 cup butter, cold

1 teaspoon lemon zest (optional)

4 eggs
2 cups white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup lemon juice

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x13 inch pan.

In a medium bowl, stir together 1 1/2 cups flour, confectioners' sugar, and lemon zest (if using). Cut in the butter until butter is the size of peas. Press mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan.

Bake in the preheated oven for 15 - 20 minutes, or until golden. In a large bowl, beat eggs until light. Whisk in the sugar, baking powder and 1/4 cup of flour. Finally, stir in the lemon juice. Pour over the prepared crust and return to the oven.

Bake for an additional 30 minutes or until bars are set. Allow to cool completely before cutting into bars. Sprinkle with confectioners' sugar, if desired.

Perfect Lemon Cake

Recipe Courtesy of Melonie at My Kitchen Cafe

Bella loves a Perfect Lemon Cupcake...

CAKE
1 package lemon cake mix
1 cup sour cream
3/4 cup water
3/4 cup oil
4 eggs
1 small package lemon instant pudding

DIRECTIONS
Mix dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients. Mix with electric mixer on medium speed for about two minutes. Pour into a greased 9x13 pan or two round pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. To make into cupcakes, fill cupcake papers 2/3 full and bake them at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. The cupcakes will fall after they come out of the oven, but this is normal. Don't over bake or the cake will be too dry.

3 ways to top the cake:

Lemon Frosting

Cream Cheese Frosting

And... my personal favorite way to make this cake:

topped with a lemon glaze and covered with fresh strawberries!

Fruit Dip

Recipe Courtesy of Robin Carter



INGREDIENTS
1 jar Marshmallow Cream (Kraft)
1 package Cream Cheese (Philadelphia)
1 tsp vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS
Soften cream cheese. Mix all ingredients together with a hand or stand-alone mixer. Serve chilled with your choice of fruit (especially good with tart apples or sweet strawberries, as pictured above).

Peach Cobbler

Recipe Courtesy of Paula Deen
Slightly modified

INGREDIENTS
4 cups peeled, sliced peaches
2 cups sugar, divided
1/2 cup water
6 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
1 1/2 cups milk
Ground cinnamon, optional

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine the peaches, 1 cup sugar, and water in a saucepan and mix well. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat.

Put the butter in a 3-quart baking dish and place in oven to melt.

Mix remaining 1 cup sugar, flour, and milk slowly to prevent clumping. Pour mixture over melted butter. Do not stir. Spoon fruit on top, gently pouring in some of the syrup. Sprinkle top with ground cinnamon, if using. Batter will rise to top during baking. Bake for 30 to 45 minutes.

To serve, scoop onto a plate and serve with vanilla ice cream.

Recipe can be halved for a smaller cobbler.

Sprinkles' Strawberry Cupcakes

Recipe Courtesy of Erin Mercado

Makes 1 dozen

INGREDIENTS

2/3 cup whole fresh or frozen strawberries, thawed
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
1/4 cup whole milk, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 large egg, room temperature
2 large egg whites, room temperature
Sprinkles' Strawberry Frosting



DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with cupcake liners; set aside.
2. Place strawberries in a small food processor; process until pureed. You should have about 1/3 cup of puree, add a few more strawberries if necessary or save any extra puree for frosting; set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In a small bowl, mix together milk, vanilla, and strawberry puree; set aside.
4. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter on medium-high speed, until light and fluffy. Gradually add sugar and continue to beat until well combined and fluffy. Reduce the mixer speed to medium and slowly add egg and egg whites until just blended.
5. With the mixer on low, slowly add half the flour mixture; mix until just blended. Add the milk mixture; mix until just blended. Slowly add remaining flour mixture, scraping down sides of the bowl with a spatula, as necessary, until just blended.
6. Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups. Transfer muffin tin to oven and bake until tops are just dry to the touch, 22 to 25 minutes. Transfer muffin tin to a wire rack and let cupcakes cool completely in tin before icing.

Blueberry Compote

INGREDIENTS

2 cups frozen blueberries
1/2 water
1/4 sugar or splenda blend

DIRECTIONS

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring often, until the blueberries begin to break apart. The syrup will be thin.

Goes great on top of Crisp and Golden Waffles!

Strawberry Pizza

Recipe courtesy of Dalila Dockstader
(Slightly modified)


Crust
Combine:
3 cups flour
3 sticks (1 1/2 cup) butter
6 tablespoons sugar

Press into jellyroll pan and bake at 350º until golden brown.

Filling
Blend:
16 ounces of cream cheese
2 cups powdered sugar
2 cups cool whip

Spread over cooled crust.
Top with sliced strawberries and strawberry glaze.