Tunnel Cake

Ingredients

1 angel food cake, already baked and cooled
(see my recipe or make from a mix)
2 packages (3 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon almond extract, optional
6 to 10 drops red food coloring, optional
1 cup diced fresh strawberries
1 carton (12 ounces) frozen whipped topping, thawed, divided


Directions


Cut a 1-in. slice off the top of the cake; set aside. To make a tunnel, carefully hollow out bottom, leaving a 1-in. shell. Tear removed cake into 1-in. cubes.

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until fluffy. Beat in milk and lemon juice until smooth. Stir in extract and food coloring if desired. Stir in cake cubes and strawberries. Fold in 1 cup whipped topping.

Fill tunnel with strawberry mixture; replace cake top. Spread remaining whipped topping over top and sides of cake. Refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight. Garnish as desired.


Note: The filling recipe gives more than you need. I often add a few more strawberries into the extra and serve it as a dessert or use the extra as a fruit dip.

Note: If you're not a fan of strawberries, you can do this using blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, or peaches. Just change your food colouring according to the fruit you're using.

Note: My brothers both don't like cheesecake, but they do like this cake.


This recipe is also linked on...

Everyday Sisters' Sharing Sundays: Red
This Week's Cravings: Strawberries
Sweet Treats Thursday

Angel Food Cake

Ingredients

1 cup flour, sifted
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 cups egg whites(at room temperature)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 teaspoons cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon salt


Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Be sure that your 10 inch tube pan is clean and dry. Any amount of oil or residue could deflate the egg whites.

Sift together the flour, and 1/2 cup of the sugar, set aside.

In a large bowl, whip the egg whites along with the vanilla, cream of tartar and salt, to medium stiff peaks. Gradually add the remaining sugar while continuing to whip to stiff peaks. When the egg white mixture has reached its maximum volume, fold in the sifted ingredients gradually, one third at a time. Do not overmix. Put the batter into the tube pan.

Bake for approximately 30 to 35 minutes in the preheated oven, until the cake springs back when touched. Balance the tube pan upside down on the top of a bottle, to prevent decompression while cooling. When cool, run a knife around the edge of the pan and invert onto a plate.

The Best Meatloaf

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds ground beef
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon ground dry mustard
1 egg
1 dash ground black pepper
1 cup soft bread crumbs
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup ketchup/bbq sauce/steak sauce
1 onion, chopped
1/2 cup diced green bell pepper
1 cup marbled cheese, grated


Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch loaf pan.

In a mixing bowl, combine the ground beef, salt, mustard, egg, black pepper and bread crumbs. In a blender, process the milk, 3 tablespoons of the ketchup, onion, green bell pepper and cheese. Then combine into the meat mixture.

Place the mixture into the prepared loaf pan and shape into a loaf. Brush the top with the remaining ketchup.

Bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour or until done. Drain and allow to stand 5 minutes before slicing.


Note: To make fresh bread crumbs, tear bread into pieces and place them in a food processor or blender. Pulse until the crumbs are fine. One average slice of bread usually produces about 1/2 cup of fresh bread crumbs.

Zebra Cake

INGREDIENTS

2 cups whipping cream
2 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 9-ounce package Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafers
Chocolate curls, chocolate sprinkles, raspberries, sliced strawberries, etc. to be used for garnishing


DIRECTIONS
In medium bowl, whip cream, sugar and vanilla with electric mixer until stiff. Set aside 1 cup of whipped cream.

Place a daub of remaining whipped cream on each cookie. Begin stacking wafers together (on a long oval or rectangular serving platter) and stand on edge on the platter to make a 14-inch log.

Neatly frost with remaining whipped cream or topping. Chill for at least six hours (or overnight).

Garnish and slice at a 45-degree angle so each serving has zebra stripes. If you don't cut it on an angle, you won't have stripes.



NOTE: If you're feeling adventurous or want to kick up the flavour you can use other flavourings instead of vanilla. I've done it using mint, raspberry, coffee, and orange liqueurs (not all at the same time) and then garnished accordingly. Basically any flavour that tastes good with chocolate will work for this recipe.

flourless chocolate torte

INGREDIENTS
1 lb bittersweet chocolate, melted
1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 cup ground almonds
2 Tbsp Amaretto (optional)
2 tsp vanilla
6 eggs, separated
a pinch of salt


DIRECTiONS

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Spray a 9-inch springform cake pan with nonstick cooking spray.

Break up the chocolate and melt in a pan over low heat, stirring often. When melted, take off heat and stir in butter, sugar, almonds, Amaretto and vanilla.

Beat egg yolks. Stir into cooling chocolate mixture. At this stage you have to mix eggs in quite vigorously and make sure the chocolate mixture isn't too hot, otherwise you'll end up with scrambled eggs and chocolate.

Beat egg whites with salt until they form stiff peaks, then fold them into the chocolate mixture a little at a time until you've got a nice even chocolatey batter.

Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 1 hour. The middle will rise and crack a bit, but that's fine. Allow the cake to cool to room temperature in the pan.

Remove the sides of the pan before serving. This is quite a moist torte, so slicing with a wet knife is advisable as it keeps the slices looking neater. You can sprinkle the whole thing with icing sugar or top each slice with a dollop of whipped cream. I like it with strawberries or raspberries too.


NOTE: when buying chocolate, get the good stuff. The better the chocolate, the better the cake.

Vietnamese Dipping Sauce (a.k.a. Nuoc Mam)

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cup fresh coconut juice or water
8 Tbsp fish sauce
6 Tbsp fresh lime juice
6 tsp rice vinegar
6 Tbsp sugar
1 deseeded and finely chopped fresh red chili
4 cloves of finely chopped garlic
1/4 cup finely sliced carrots (optional)


DIRECTIONS

Combine the coconut juice or water, rice vinegar and sugar in a saucepan, and gently bring this to a boil. Allow this mixture to cool down.

Add the fish sauce, lime juice, chili, garlic and carrots into the mixture. This delicious dipping sauce is ready to be served.

Note: If you have any leftovers, just put it into a container and freeze it for another meal.

Vietnamese Spring Rolls (a.k.a. Cha Gio)

INGREDIENTS

3/4 lb lean minced pork
1/2 lb peeled, deveined and minced shrimps
4 oz crab meat
3/4 cup grated carrots
6 finely chopped medium sized shallots or small onions
3 minced cloves of garlic
3 oz dried glass noodles or soh hoon or rice vermicelli
1 egg
3 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp ground white pepper
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
spring roll wrappers (I like the frozen ones, though the dry rice wraps are good too, just more difficult to work with)
oil (for frying)


DIRECTIONS

Soak the soh hoon or dried glass noodles or rice vermicelli in water for about 20 minutes or until soft. Drain the noodles and cut them into 3 inch lengths.

Combine all the above ingredients (except wrappers and oil) and make sure everything is mixed well.

On a damp tea towel, place a wrap, and fill with a couple of tablespoons of the pork mixture in a sausage like shape at one end of the wrap. Fold sides in, then begin rolling spring roll at the mixture side. Seal roll by moistening edge with water.

Heat oil over medium-high heat.

Fry rolls, turning frequently until cooked through and golden, about 5-7 minutes. Drain on paper towels, and serve with Spring Roll Sauce (Nuoc Mam). Keep warm in heated oven.

Note: The spring rolls may be made ahead, and frozen, and then fried when thawed. Spring rolls may be kept in fridge until ready to fry too, up to a day or two in advance. Ground chicken may be substituted for the pork.

Genereal Tso's Chicken

INGREDIENTS

1lb boneless skinless chicken thighs (cut into 1” chunks)
5 dried red chili peppers
3 green onions (sliced)
3 eggs (beaten)
½ cup cornstarch
oil (for frying)

Sauce-
1 ½ tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons rice wine
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons cornstarch


DIRECTIONS

In a large mixing bowl combine cornstarch and beaten eggs. Mix well to create a batter. Add chicken bits and coat thoroughly.

To make the sauce- in a small bowl combine rice vinegar, rice wine, soy sauce, sugar and cornstarch. Mix well and set aside.

Heat deep fryer or wok to 375 degrees and deep fried chicken bits in batches. Drain on paper towels.

Add 1-2 tablespoons of oil to your wok. Add dried chili peppers to your wok and stir fry for 30 seconds. Add chicken bits to the wok and stir fry for a couple minutes.

Add sauce mixture to the wok and cook stirring until the sauce becomes thickened and bubbly. Garnish with green onions and serve.

mango with sticky rice (a.k.a. Kow Neuw Mamuang)

INGREDIENTS

2 Tbsp sugar
1 cup sticky rice
2 pinches salt
1 cup coconut milk
mango


DIRECTIONS

Soak the sticky rice for 10 minutes in warm water in a glass or ceramic microwave-safe bowl. Soaking the rice is very important. The water level should be just above the rice, which comes out to be 1 cup of rice and a little over 1 cup of water (about 10% more). Cover the bowl with a dish and cook in microwave for at full power 3 minutes. Stir the rice around to move the rice from the top to the bottom. You will notice that some of the rice is translucent or cooked and some still has white center or the uncooked portion.

Heat it up again for another 3 minutes. Check and see if it is done. When cooked, all the rice should be translucent. If it needs more cooking, continue to heat it up and checking every 3 minutes or so. How long it takes to cook really depends on your microwave.


Putting it together:

Heat the coconut milk in a pot over medium heat. Stir constantly and let the coconut milk simmer. Hard boiled coconut milk will curdle.

Add sugar and salt. Remove from heat.

Pour 3/4 of the hot coconut milk over the hot sticky rice. Let it sit for 5 minutes. The sticky rice will absorb all the coconut milk. The rice should be a little mushy.

Peel and slice ripe mango. Place sticky rice on a small plate and top with mango. Spoon the coconut milk on top of the mango and sticky rice.


This recipe is also linked to...

Everyday Sisters' Sharing Sundays: Yellow

mini oreo cheesecakes

Ingredients

12 oreo cookies
12 muffin liners
2 pkg brick cream cheese (softened)
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
chocolate sauce and whipped cream for garnish.


Directions

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

Beat cream cheese and sugar in large bowl with mixer until well blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating on low speed after each just until blended.

Place 1 cookie in bottom of each of 12 paper-lined muffin cups. Fill with batter.

Bake 20 min. or until centres are almost set. Cool. Refrigerate 3 hours.

Garnish with chocolate sauce (or melted chocolate) drizzled over cheesecakes. Top with whipped cream.

"chinese" spring rolls

Ingredients

1 tbsp oil
6-10 mushrooms finely chopped
1 small carrot finely chopped
1 1/2 cup bean sprouts
1 cup shredded cabbage
1 small onion finely chopped
1/4 cup chicken broth
2 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp cornstarch
1 pkg spring rolls or egg roll wrappers
4 cup oil for frying
plum sauce for dipping


Directions

1. Prepare filling:
a) Heat oil in wok. Stir fry vegetables until tender.
b)Combine chicken broth, oyster sauce, sugar and cornstarch. Add to wok and stir fry until sauce thickens.
c)Let filling cool before filling spring rolls. (can refridgerate to speed up)

2. Prepare spring rolls:
a) Position wrapper like a diamond with one point facing you.
b)Place 2 tbsp of filling in a log shape across the bottom, about 2 inches from the lowest corner. Fold the bottom corner over the filling and tuck it behind the filling. Roll the packet up once to secure the filling. Moisten the remaining 3 corners with egg. Fold the left and right corners to the centre and press down to seal, forming an envelope. Finish rolling up, sealing the top corner.

3. Fry
a)Heat 4 cup oil to 360 to 375 degrees. Deep fry the spring rolls, a few at a time, until crisp and golden.

NOTE: Spring rolls may be prepared a few hours ahead and refridgerated, covered with a plastic wrap until ready to cook. Make sure they don't touch each other or they will stick together. You can also freeze them BEFORE they're fried. Just make sure to freeze them on a flat surface so they're not touching. Once they're frozen, you can transfer them into a sealable container. When you want to use them take them out and put them in a single layer so that they're not touching as they thaw.