I love white cake. I have tried several recipes and they were just EH…….even the one that claimed to be the best white cake ever. But it wasn’t the best. So, my search continues…but this white velvet cake is the best one so far. It really is good…….moist, tender crumb….didn’t get hard the next day…fluffy….yum…..vanilla-ish and more yum. I can’t wait to try it with a chocolate buttercream frosting. But it is PERFECT with fresh lemon curd. OH MY, MY, MY. One bite of this cake and you will get goosies and your eyes will roll back and you will be making all kinds M-m-m-m-m noises…..your taste buds will be dancin all over the place. Can you tell how much I adore this cake? Oh, if you are a hater of lemons, try some fresh strawberries instead! ohhhhh yeahhhhh. PUH-LEEZE try this. You know, I promised a slice of this to 3 different people….what was I thinking!!!!! Maybe they have forgotten!!! I’m not sure I want to share, but I certainly don’t need an entire cake, so guess I’m sharing.

White Velvet Cake

1  cup all purpose flour
1  3/4 cups cake flour
1/2  tsp baking soda
1  1/2 tsp baking powder
1  tsp salt
1  1/2 cups sugar
2/3  cup vegetable oil
1/3  cup shortening
1  tsp vanilla
3  large eggs
1  1/2 cups buttermilk

Preheat oven to 325. Sift all dry ingredients together. Set aside. Grease and flour 2 round cake pans, lined with parchment paper. In a mixing bowl, beat the oil, shortening and vanilla. Beat till light and fluffy. Add the eggs. Fold in the dry stuff alternately with the buttermilk, starting with the dry and ending with the dry. DO NOT OVER BEAT. Be kind. Pour into prepared pans and bake for about 20-25 minutes. Poke with a toothpick and if it comes out clean, its done. Place on cooling rack and cool completely.  Remove from pans and frost with your favorite frosting or filling. I used whipped cream. M-m-m-m-m

Lemon Curd

1 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons flour
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup water
1/2 cup lemon juice
zest of 2 lemons
2 tablespoons butter
4 egg yolks, beaten

In a saucepan, combine sugar, flour, cornstarch and salt. Mix in the egg yolks. Add the water and lemon juice. On medium heat, stir constantly till thickened. Remove from heat, add butter.  chill. Use this as  filling for cakes, cupcakes, or dip shortbread cookies in it. Pucker up!

We all love jalapeno poppers, right? Those spicy chili peppers stuffed with oozy goozy cheese? I love em! The spicier the better. Well, if you like those and you like bread, you will love this Jalapeno Popper Bread. Wow……its good. I mean, really good. Crispy, crusty bread with the melty cream cheese cheddar cheese combo and those spicy rings of jalapeno. M-m-m-m-m-m-m. This stuff is dangerous. It could be addicting. I will have to limit myself on this stuff. Maybe like one small piece every couple of months. Hmmmm, or maybe just when I have guests. I can think of quite a few of my friends who would LOVE this.

You gotta try this……..like soon!

Jalapeno Popper Bread

loaf of French or Italian soft bread
1  8oz block of cream cheese (super softened)
1  cup shredded cheddar cheese
garlic clove, minced (optional)
pickled jalapeno slices (fresh jalapeno is good too)

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Cut bread loaf in half. Mix together the soft cream cheese with most of the cheddar cheese and garlic. Spread the mixture on the bread.  Sprinkle with the remaining cheddar cheese. Top with jalapeno slices. Place bread on a baking sheet and pop it into the oven. Bake just until the cheese is all melty.

M-m-m-mmmmm, that first crunchy bite will have you just shoving this bread into your face.

Just sharing some cookies I painted for a coworker. I call her little Miss party planner. I mean she goes ALL out!! She plans months in advance. She has the whole Paris theme going on! I may just go invite myself to her party and maybe I will feel like I am actually in Paris!!!!!!!!!!!! It was fun painting these cookies. I wasn’t really too anxious to accept the order at first, but now I am glad I did. Ah-ha!! Maybe that’s what I’ll do….I will travel the world through cookie painting! Yes, tonight I will paint cookies with an Italian theme…..tomorrow, who knows! Japan!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 Last night I made fried rice. I made a veggie version which was filled with 7 different kinds of veggies! I do prefer mine with some type of meat, so I am giving you that version. Either way, it is yummy. I also made some cream cheese fried wontons. Sorry I didn’t take a picture of the finished product, but I’m sure you have all seen a fried wonton before! 🙂

I hope you try these dishes!

Fried Rice

No measurements here. Just eyeball it according to what you like and how many people you are serving.
cooked, cold rice
chicken, shrimp or beef (or all of them)
3 or 4 good splashes of soy sauce
chopped veggies of your choice. I used:
broccoli, bean sprouts, green onion, corn, fresh green beans, chinese cabbage,  pickled ginger
scrambled eggs
1 tsp chicken bouillon

In a large skillet, in a little bit of vegetable oil, fry your meat or use leftover meat. Add the veggies, and bouillon. Stir fry until done but still crispy. Add bean sprouts and toss. Remove from pan and set aside. Put your cooked cold rice into the skillet  and toss until it’s warm. Add all the veggies that you had set aside. Add soy sauce and then your scrambled egg. Serve. It is that simple.

Cream Cheese WonTons

1 package of wonton wrappers (you can purchase these at asian markets and at your local grocery store)
1  8oz pkg of cream cheese
1 green onion
crab or shrimp, minced (optional)
jalapeno, minced (optional)

Mix the filling ingredients together. Place a small amount (1 tsp) in the center of each wonton wrapper. Bring the 2 sides of the wrapper together, then the bring the bottom up and roll. Dab top point with water, roll and seal. Fry in about 1/4″ of hot oil, until brown. They cook quickly! Drain on papertowels. Dip into your favorite sauce. I use a mixture of catsup, chili paste and soysauce.

Who doesn’t love shortbread? That crumbly, melt in your mouth cookie that you just can’t stop eating. It is such an easy cookie to make and there are so many flavors. I just made a lemon cranberry shortbread. They are addicting….seriously addicting. I’ve made dried cherry chocolate chip, orange, toasted oatmeal, chocolate espresso, chocolate dipped, key lime, almond coconut…..it goes on and on. There are so many variations. You just need a good base shortbread recipe. Shortbread makes a great gift. Put them in pretty little bags tied with ribbon, cut them into little bite size squares and fill up a bag. Ya gotta make some. I like mine super crunchy. Some folks like em a bit softer. Either way, they are delicious
                             

Basic Shortbread

3  sticks of butter, room temperature
1  cup of sugar
3 1/2  cups of flour
1/4  tsp salt

Pictured, is this basic shortbread, but I added the zest of 2 small lemons and 1/2 cup of dried cranberries.

Preheat oven to 350. In a mixing bowl with a paddle attachment, mix the butter and sugar until combined. Add the flour and the salt. At this point, add any zests, nuts, dried fruits, chopped chocolate, etc. Mix briefly, just until combined. Flatten and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill for 30 minutes. Lightly flour a board or surface and roll out into a 1/2″ thickness. Cut into 3″ squares or circles. Place onto an ungreased baking sheet. Bake for approx. 15 minutes or just until the edges are lightly brown. Allow to cool completely.  Chomp, Chomp. 🙂