Lemon Pound Cake with Fresh Strawberry Icing*

Ingredients:

3 Cups all- purpose flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 Cups granulated sugar
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature (Eath Balance for dairy free)
1/2 cup shortening, room temperature
5 large eggs
1 Cup whole milk (almond milk works too)
6 Tablespoons lemon juice (fresh squeezed)
(Icing Ingredients below)

Directions:

1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour your pans. This recipe makes either one large Bundt pan or two large loaf pans.

2) Sift flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

3) Cream butter, shortening and sugar until the mixture comes together and it is no longer lumpy. Add eggs one at a time, beating just until incorporated.

4) Add flour mixture in three additions alternating with milk, starting and ending with flour (yes, this is important). Don't worry it your batter appears curdled after adding the milk. It's all good. Mix after each addition only until just blended.

5) Add the lemon juice. Mix well. It might look curdled. Don't worry here either.

6) Working quickly, pour batter into prepared pans until they are a little more then 3/4 full. (Will go flat if delayed)

7) Bake cakes until tester comes out with only a few crumbs attached. Approximately 55 minutes for a large Bundt pan and 35 minutes for small pans.





Fresh Strawberry Icing 

Ingredients:

1 Cup strawberries
4 Cups powdered sugar
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, very soft but not melted
2 Tablespoons light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1) Sift your powdered sugar after measuring and set it aside. Coarsely chop the hulled strawberries.

2) Add strawberries and 1/4 cup powdered sugar to Nurtibullet. Blend until the strawberries are completely pureed.

3) Blend the butter, corn syrup and vanilla extract into the strawberry juice.

4) Stir the remaining powdered sugar into the strawberry mixture. Add a little powdered sugar at a time to get the right consinsity. If it is still to thin, add more powdered sugar. If it's too thick add a tablespoon of water.

http://americanheritagecooking.com/2013/07/lemon-pound-cake-strawberry-icing/

*This dense and moist cake is great with tea. Maybe add a little lemon EO next time for a little extra kick. It disappears very quickly every time I make it. 

Double Chocolate Banana Bread*

Ingredients:

3 very bananas, mashed
1/2 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 cup (about 6oz) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips


Directions:

1) Heat oven to 350 degrees. butter 9x5-inch loaf pan.
2) Put ingredients in order in mixer
3) Pour into prepared pan and bake 55-65 minutes. Cool in pan for 10 to 15 minutes, then run a knife around the edge and invert it out onto a cooling rack. Server warm or at room temperature.

The banana bread will keep for up to 4 days at room temperature.




Original Recipe

*Taste between banana bread and chocolate cake, yummy

Thin Mint Cookie Truffles

Ingredients:

1 (9oz_ package of Girl Scout Thin Mint Cookies (or Keebler Grasshopper cookies)
1/2 package (4oz) cream cheese, softened
1 (12 oz) bag Guittard's Green Mint Chips

Directions:

1) In a food processor, pulse the Thin Mints a few times, and then blend them down until they are just crumbs. It might be easier to do this in two batches (even if you don’t have a food processor, you can still make these. Throw the cookies in a big Ziploc bag and start pounding them with a hammer until you have a lot of fine crumbs).

2) Next, mix the cream cheese and cookie crumbs together in a bowl until well-mixed. Roll the mixture into 1 inch size balls, and place them on a wax paper covered baking sheet. Place the baking sheet in the fridge for about 30 minutes, so the balls are easier to dip in the chocolate and do not fall apart.
Once the truffles have been in the fridge for a while, melt the green mint chips in a microwave-safe bowl in the microwave. Heat the chips for 30 seconds at a time, stirring in between each heat burst. Repeat until the chips are all melted.

3) Roll each ball in the melted chips until it is fully covered. I usually use two forks to push the truffle around until it is all covered. Then, using the two forks, carefully pick up the truffle and allow the excess mint chocolate to run off before placing back on the wax paper. Repeat with all the truffles.

4) Stick the truffles back in the fridge for a couple of minutes or until the mint chocolate is hardened.

5) If you want to decorate your truffles as I did, melt about 1/2 cup of white chocolate chips (or almond bark or white candy coating-whatever you want) the same way that you melted the mint chips. Spoon the white chocolate in a small Ziplock bag and cut a tiny bit of one corner off the bag. Start small at first, then if you need, make the hole a little larger. Drizzle the white chocolate over the green truffles.

6) Place back in the fridge until you are ready to devour eat them.
*If you can’t find those green mint chips, these can be made with almond bark or vanilla candy coating. It would also be cute to set aside small amount of cookie crumbs and sprinkle them on top of the truffles. Sprinkles also look cute on these too!

http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/2012/01/no-bake-thin-mint-cookie-truffles.html

Irish Cream Chocolate Cheesecake

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups chocolate cookie crumbs (I used keebler fudge stripes)
1/3 cups confectioners sugar
1/3 unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup butter
3 (8oz) packages cream cheese, softened
1 1/4 cups white sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup irish cream liqueur

Directions:

1. 1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a large bowl, mix together the cookie crumbs, confectioners' sugar and 1/3 cup cocoa. Add melted butter and stir until well mixed. Pat into the bottom of a 9 inch springform pan. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes; set aside. Increase oven temperature to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).
2. 2) In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, white sugar, 1/4 cup cocoa and flour. Beat at medium speed until well blended and smooth. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Blend in the sour cream and Irish cream liqueur; mixing on low speed. Pour filling over baked crust.
3. 3) Bake at 450 degrees F (230 degrees C) for 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C), and continue baking for 60 minutes.
4. 4) With a knife, loosen cake from rim of pan. Let cool, then remove the rim of pan. Chill before serving. If your cake cracks, a helpful tip is to dampen a spatula and smooth the top, then sprinkle with some chocolate wafer crumbs.
5. 
6. http://allrecipes.com/recipe/7284/irish-cream-chocolate-cheesecake/?internalSource=rotd&referringId=1451&referringContentType=recipe%20hub

Baileys Chocolate Mousse

Ingredients:

100 ml Baileys Original Irish Cream

200g good quality milk/dark chocolate

2 eggs, separated

25g butter

2 tbsp golden caster sugar

0.4 units per serve

Directions:

1)First melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water. Once it's melted take it off the heat to save it burning. You could also melt the chocolate in the microwave.

2)Next melt the butter and add it to the chocolate along with the egg yolks. Stir until you've got a smooth, silky mixture.

3)In another bowl whisk the egg whites (use an electric mixer if you've got one) untill they form soft peaks. Add the sugar a little at a time and continue to whisk until the mixture is shiny and the peaks are stiff.

4) Fold the egg whites into the chocolate mix along with the Baileys. Then divide your mousse between four tumblers and pop it in the fridge for a couple of hours.

5) When your're ready to serve, whip up the whipping cream until it forms stiff peaks. 

6) Add a good spoonful of whipped cream to the top of each mousse and decorate with crumbled or flaked chocolate.

http://www.baileys.com/en-gb/recipes/desserts/baileys-chocolate-mousse.html