Best Birthday Cake Ever (Awesome Chocolate Frosting Too!)

Posted by Kelly B. Credit to kaboose.com and Ghiradelli

Thanks Kelly for another great recipe.  I'm thankful to say I've tried this one too, and I really don't want to make box cakes anymore.  It's so good and homemade.  Another reason why I can't lose that baby weight from 2 years ago.  Sigh...  On to the recipe!

Best Birthday Cake

found on kaboose.com

 

Ingredients

• 2 cups (500 mL) sugar
• 4 eggs
• 2-1/2 cups (625 mL) all-purpose flour
• 1 cup (250 mL) milk
• 3/4 cup (175 mL) vegetable oil
• 2-1/4 teaspoons (11 mL) baking powder
• 1 teaspoon (5 mL) vanilla

Cooking Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Line two 9-inch (23-cm) round cake pans or one 9x13-inch (23 x 33 cm) rectangular baking pan with parchment paper. Grease the paper and the sides of the pan well.
2. In a large mixing bowl, with an electric mixer, beat sugar and eggs together until slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Add flour, milk, oil, baking powder, and vanilla and beat for another minute, just until the batter is smooth and creamy. Don't overbeat. Pour batter into the prepared baking pan(s).
3. Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes or until the tops are golden and a toothpick poked into the center of the layer comes out clean. (A single rectangular pan will take longer to bake than two round ones.) Loosen the sides of the cake from the pan with a thin knife, then turn out onto a rack and peel off the paper. Let cool completely then cover with frosting or whipped cream and strawberries.

Best Chocolate Frosting

Ghirardelli Buttercream Frosting recipe from the cocoa can

 

6 TBSP butter softened

2 2/3 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cup Ghirardelli Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

1/3 cup milk

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

 

In bowl beat butter until light and fluffy, Add the rest of the items in the order listed and blend well.

Hey BC Gals!

Email me your recipes.  I'd love to see those raved over meals you send after someone's had a baby.  And since we're in the fall and holidays are approaching, why not your tried and true holiday dishes.  I'll keep sharing mine as I have the time to dig them out, but I want to see yours!

Pumpkin Soup with Chili Cran-Apple Relish

Posted by: Anjanette S., from Rachael Ray on Food Network

I have made this for a few years, and it is a family favorite!!  I add a lot of ginger and extra nutmeg, and use 1/2 and 1/2 instead of heavy cream, but sooo good.  

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, 1 turn of the pan
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 fresh bay leaf
• 2 ribs celery with greens, finely chopped (save time and purchase celery already washed, trimmed and cut into sticks, this makes chopping fast work)
• 1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
• Salt and pepper
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons poultry seasoning or 2 teaspoons ground thyme
• 2 teaspoons hot sauce, or to taste
• 6 cups chicken stock
• 1 (28-ounce) can cooked pumpkin puree
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Relish:

• 1 crisp apple, such as McIntosh or Granny Smith, finely chopped
• 1/4 red onion, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/2 cup dried sweetened cranberries, chopped
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 2 teaspoons honey
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

Heat a medium soup pot over medium to medium high heat. Add the oil and melt the butter. Add bay, celery, and onion. Season the veggies with salt and pepper. Cook 6 or 7 minutes, until tender. Add flour, poultry seasoning and hot sauce, to taste, then cook flour a minute. Whisk in chicken stock and bring liquid to a bubble. Whisk in pumpkin in large spoonfuls to incorporate it into the broth. Simmer soup 10 minutes to thicken a bit then add in cream and nutmeg. Reduce heat to low and keep warm until ready to serve.

While soup cooks, assemble the relish: combine apple, onion, lemon juice, cranberries, chili powder, honey and cinnamon.

Adjust seasonings in soup and relish and serve soup in shallow bowls with a few spoonfuls of relish.

Pumpkin Chocolate Cake

Kelly shared this recipe, and my family devoured it.  They didn't know it had pumpkin in there.  Moist and just fantastic...great dessert for fall/winter.  Eat it warm too, don't wait!

Posted by Kelly B., from Whole Foods Recipes

Ingredients

1/4 cup canola oil, plus more for greasing
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour (I used regular whole wheat flour)
1/3 cup cocoa powder
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar (Or 1/2 c. brown sugar, and 3/4 c. white sugar)
2 eggs
1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin purée
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Powdered sugar, for dusting (optional)

Method

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease an (8-inch) square baking pan with oil and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together oil, sugar, eggs, pumpkin and vanilla. Whisk flour mixture into pumpkin mixture until well combined then transfer batter to prepared pan.

Bake until the cakes pulls away from the sides of the pan and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 40 to 50 minutes. Set aside to let cool then cut into squares and dust with powdered sugar, if you like.

East Texas Chili

Posted and changed slightly by Kelly B., found in Baylor College cookbook.

 2lbs. ground beef/buffalo/turkey (used buffalo, very healthy and tasty)

2 onions, chopped

2 large minced garlic cloves

1 (16 oz) can tomato sauce

1/2 tsp cumin

2 jalapenos, seeded and chopped (we put the whole things in and it was perfect for us, but too spicy for the kids for sure)

1 envelope chili seasoning mix (I used Williams Original Chili Seasoning on sale from Reasors and loved it)

1/2 to 1 tsp pepper

salt to taste

2-3 TBS cornmeal

1 can beans on choice (I used Pinto and drained them)

 

*I also added 1 green bell pepper chopped and a couple tomatoes chopped as well. (could use a couple of canned diced tomatoes and a small can of tomato paste).

 

I put the buffalo, onion, bell pepper and garlic and sauteed them until the meat was brown, then I put it and all the other ingredients into the crock pot to cook all day, you don't have to do that, but it is best when cooked for a long time, so baby that's what we are doing!

Poppyseed Chicken

OK, I know this is a popular dish, and yet, so appreciated when received.   Make sure you "comment" what you do differently for your version.  This is my kids' absolute favorite meal!


Posted by: Anjanette S., Recipe from my sister's cookbook (and that's all I know)

4 large chicken breasts, cooked and cut-up (or 1 rotisserie chicken cut-up)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 8 oz container light sour cream
40 Ritz crackers crushed
2 TB poppyseeds
1/4 c. butter melted

Preheat oven to 350.  Mix chicken, soup, sour cream together and pour into 9 x 13 pan.

Mix crushed crackers, poppyseeds and butter and spread over top of chicken mixture.  Bake for 30-40 minutes until golden and bubbly.

Basic Chicken Noodle Soup

Posted and Created by: Anjanette S.

Ingredients:

Chicken breasts (2-3) cooked
1 box chicken broth
4 cups water
3 bouillon cubes
1/2 yellow onion chopped
2-3 ribs of celery finely chopped
2 carrots peeled and chopped or sliced.
Poultry seasoning
Dash or two of nutmeg
Salt and Pepper
Amish Noodles

Optional add-ins:  green beans, pumpkin cubes, sweet potatoes, white potatoes, rosemary, fresh thyme or parsley. (I made this tonight with the sweet potato chunks and it flavored the whole soup and noodles, and the whole family thought it was as Sophia said, "the goodest soup ever!"  

This can be done in a crockpot, or even can be a 30-minute meal.

Chop the chicken into whatever sized bites your kids like (mine like to barely notice it).  Put all ingredients except noodles into crockpot or stovetop pot.  If using crockpot, cook on low for 6-8 hours.  30 minutes before done, boil noodles until desired tenderness and add to crockpot and serve.  If using stove, heat thoroughly, check seasoning, then add the Amish noodles.  I'm not exact on measuring seasonings.  I use several good shakes of Poultry seasoning, probably 3/4 to 1 tsp, and season with salt and pepper to taste.