Coconut Cake

Hi! Remember me? I love to cook and share my recipes with you.  Sorry I have been away for so long, but moving is such a pain and the unpacking is taking forever.  Our new house did not come with a dishwasher or a working oven so things have been difficult to say the least

Today I have a recipe for Coconut Cake. I actually made this cake for Christmas dinner but I thought it would be fitting to share today. You see, I gave up chocolate for Lent and I have to ignore recipes containing chocolate for 40 days.  Anyone else giving up anything for Lent? I'm not Catholic but I decided this year to give up something and given my love of chocolate it was a no brainer.

I couldn't find the perfect recipe online when it was time to make a coconut cake for Chritmas so this is kind of a Frankenstein cake, I made using 3 different recipes. For the cake I started with a recipe from Duncan Hines.  For the filling I looked to Emiril.  And for the frosting I was inspired by the Barefoot Contessa.



Ingredients

For the Cake

1 box White Cake Mix
1 1/2 cup Coconut Milk
4 large Egg Whites
4 oz Sweetened Shredded Coconut



For the Filling

1/2 cup Butter
4 oz Cream Cheese
3/4 lb Powdered Sugar
1 Lemon, zested,
2 tbsp Lemon Juice
2 tbsp Milk



For the Frosting

1 lb Cream Cheese, at room temperature
1/2 lb (2 sticks) Unsalted Butter, at room temperature
3/4 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/4 teaspoon pure almond extract
1 lb Powdered Sugar, sifted
6 oz Sweetened Shredded Coconut



Directions

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour two round cake pans.





In a large mixing bowl, blend the cake mix, coconut milk and egg whites. Beat at low speed until moistened (about 30 seconds). Beat at medium speed for two minutes. Pour batter evenly among the prepared pans. Fold in coconut.



Bake for 18 - 21 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool layers in pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Turn out of pan to cool completely before frosting.

Now it is time to work on the filling.

Using an electric mixer, cream the remaining butter with the cream cheese. Add the powdered sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice and 2 tablespoons of the milk. Mix well. Spread a thin layer of the filling on top of each cake. Place the layers of cake on top of each other.





And for the finale, the frosting.

Add cream cheese, butter, vanilla and almond extracts to a bowl and mix on low speed. Slowly add in the powdered sugar and mix until smooth.





Frost the tops and sides of the cake.



Sprinkle the top of cake with coconut and gently press onto the sides of the cake.





Yum, you wind up with this delicious coconut cake.

Cookies and Milk Martini

It's Thursday and do you know what that means? It means that it is ladies night and at most establishments ladies get to drink free! WooHoo! Oh wait, I forgot, I'm married and a homebody and not 20something anymore, so ladies night doesn't actually mean anything to me. But in case you want to partake in Thirsty Thursday here is an an easy and delicious cocktail.

I actually came up with with this on Christmas Eve. I was excited earlier in the day when I discovered that Pinnacle vodka was on sale at my local liquor store. I stocked up on my favorites and decided to try out the cookie dough flavor.  So, it was after 11:00 I had cookies baking in the oven, I was wrapping presents and watching my favorite Christmas movie, Die Hard and I decided I had to have a cocktail and Santa might want one too. And Voila, the Cookies and Milk Martini was born.

Some notes before I get to the recipe.
*Use equal parts of all the ingredients if you want to make more than one drink.
*You can also rim the glass with cookie crumbs
* I happened to have milk at home, but you can use half & half or cream, or whatever you use in your coffee.
*If there are any typos it is because I had to drink a martini before writing this entry.



Ingredients
1 shot Pinnacle Cookie Dough Vodka
1 shot Godiva Chocolate Liqueur
1 shot Milk
Soft Cookies for Garnish






Directions

Take one shot of the Pinnacle Cookie Dough Vodka.



Take one shot of the Chocolate Godiva Liqueur.



And finally take one shot of the milk.


Combine in a shaker.

Add Ice.


And Shake,Shake, Shake, because I like my martinis shaken not stirred.



Pour into martini glass.

Garnish with Cookie.


Toast yourself and enjoy!

Hash Brown Casserole

I am sitting here dreading going to work tomorrow and watching a new reality show on the Food Network, Rachael vs. Guy Celebrity Cook Off.  I'm hoping it is a good show. Joey Fatone is on it and I loved *Nsync, maybe Justin will make a guest appearance. Don't tell anyone but he is one of my secret boyfriends.  Coolio is on the show too, I think he may be a little crazy. This show has the potential to be very entertaining.

Tomorrow everything gets back to normal, back to work and back to school. This is a great recipe for breakfast on busy mornings. It can be assembled the night before and baked in the oven in the morning.  It also reheats well.  My mom actually made this dish for Thanksgiving and I begged for the recipe so I could make it Christmas morning. It turned out pretty tasty. The original recipe was a copy cat recipe for Cracker Barrel's Hash Browns.  I made a few adjustments to the recipe.




Ingredients
20 oz bag of Southwest Style Hash Browns
1 can Cream of Chicken Soup
8 oz Sour Cream
2 cups Shredded Cheddar Cheese
1/2 cup butter, melted

Seasonings to Taste
Salt
Pepper



Directions


Preheat oven to 350°F and spray an 9 x 13 baking dish with cooking spray.

Add hash browns dish.



Mix in sour cream, cream of chicken soup, cheese and seasonings.





Bake for 30 to 45 minutes or until golden brown on top.

Happy New Year: Healthy Fish Sticks

I hope everyone had a happy and safe New Year. We had a completely wild and scandalous New Year's Eve. OK, not really we just sat at home with cocktails and a movies. But we could have if we wanted to.  I did whip up some Jell-O shots that turned out pretty good. I will have to post a recipe soon.

Have you made any resolutions this year? I tend to make my resolutions on birthday. Last year I resolved to quit smoking and I am proud to say that on December 19, 2011 I was officially one year smoke free. This year I resolved to continue to be the best wife and stepmom I can be, to lose about 15 pounds and to do what makes me happy no matter what anyone else thinks.

For my blog I resolve to write at least three recipes a week and to post updates in Facebook daily.  Tell me what you would like to see more of?

Since it is New Years and I know so many people have vowed to adopt healthy diet I will restrain from posting my coconut cake recipe. I will give you a few weeks to earn a treat.  This is a healthy version of the kid's favorite, Fish Sticks.  You can use any type of white fish in this recipe, I happened to have Swai in my freezer.




Ingredients
1 lb White Fish
1 cup Fiber One Cereal
2 Egg Whites

Seasonings to Taste
Garlic Powder
Old Bay Seasoning
Red Pepper Flakes
Salt
Pepper







Directions


Preheat oven to 400 F

Add Fiber One Cereal and seasonings to the blender. Blend until well mixed and crushed.




Cut fish into strips.





Dip the fish into the egg whites. (Ignore the bit of yolk that slipped through.)



Coat with "bread crumbs".





Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork.





Nutritional Info
Serving size 4 oz

Calories: 126 Carbs: 14 Fat: 2 Protein: 19

New Years Eve Recipe Links

So, who has big plans for New Years Eve? Not me. I am like Cinderella without a pretty dress, glass slippers or a ball to go to.  But I do have my Prince Charming and a fully stocked liquor cabinet (well not a cabinet but a shelf) so I am sure we will have fun whatever we end up doing.  Personally I do not like going out on amateur  night.  I like to stay home where I am safe or sound.

Even when we are just staying at home I still like to have a nice spread of food.  Here are some links to some of my favorite party foods for New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.


I may have an alcohol problem,  I love adding a little booze to any dish I can.  I've hated greens my entire life until this pass Thanksgiving when my Mom made the greens by the Neely's of the Food Network.  Add a little booze and I am in love.

Boozy Braised Collard Greens

I love the idea of these cupcakes. They are so cute and I can't wait to try them. Once again Confessions of a Cookbook Queen has outdone herself.

New Years Eve Cupcakes

These are some of my favorite appetizer recipes you can  find in this blog.

Viola's Queso
Jalapeño-Chicken Crescent Pinwheels
Party Meatballs

Oatmeal Cranberry White Chip Cookies

Lindsey of Love and Olive Oil and Julie of The Little Kitchen were wonderful enough to host the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap this year. So of course due to my great love of cookies I immediately signed up.  The basic rules were that you were assigned three food bloggers to send a dozen cookies to and in turn three different food bloggers would send you cookies.  It was the perfect win/win scenario. Free Cookies in the mail and an excuse to bake up even more cookies.  Plus I was introduced to new blogs I would have missed out on before.

I was lucky enough to receive three very creative and original cookies. April of Sutch a Delight sent me Red Velvet Crackle Cookies.  Peanut Butter Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies arrived from Josh and Ashley's World.  I also received Cinnamon and Caramel Cookies from My Sweet Zepol

When it came time for me to decide what type of cookie to make I knew I didn't want to do anything too complicated and I wanted cookies that would ship well.  Recently oatmeal cookies have crept into my list of favorite cookies.  I love oatmeal raisin cookies and oatmeal cinnamon chip cookies, but for the swap I wanted to do something a little bit different, so these Oatmeal Cranberry White Chip Cookies were born.  I love the contrast of the tartness of the cranberries with sweetness of the cookie.

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 1/2 cups rolled oats
• 2 cups white chocolate chips
• 1 cup craisins

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar and white sugar until smooth.





Stir in the egg and vanilla.



Mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.



Stir into the creamed mixture.



Mix in the rolled oats, white chips and craisins.





Drop by tablespoon onto the prepared cookie sheets.



Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven.



Remove from baking sheets to cool on wire racks.