Tres Leches Cake

By special request I post my recipe for Tres Leches Cake (Three Milk Cake). Tres Leches is a very spongy cake soaked in three different kinds of milk and is TO DIE FOR. Of Hispanic origin, it can be found all over Latin America - and in my own kitchen every Cinco de Mayo! :)

Now, anyone who knows me even a little bit knows I don't even eat syrup on my pancakes because I WILL NOT eat anything with a soggy texture. The amazing this about this cake, though, is because it is so light and spongey that it doesn't really GET soggy - even after being soaked in the milk.

I wish I had a picture of this... but really I know you just want the recipe. So, without further adieu!

Ingredients:
5 Eggs
1 C. Sugar
1 C. SELF RISING flour
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (12 oz) can evaporated milk
1 C. milk

Directions:

Grease and FLOUR an 8X12" cake pan. Prehead oven to 350 degrees.

Separate the 5 eggs, reserving the yolks in a separate bowl. Beat the egg whites in a large mixing bowl. Add 1 cup sugar slowly to the egg whites, beating constantly. Slowly add the yolks one by one, beating well after each addition. Stir in the 1 teaspoon vanilla. Sift the flour, and stir it into the egg mixture. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake the cake for 20 minutes, or until done. Cool.

Blend the sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, milk, and 1 tablespoon vanilla. Pour this syrup over the cooled cake.

Keep cake chilled until ready to serve. Can frost with a meringue topping, or whipped cream if you'd like, but I find it is excellent on its own. Garnish with sliced strawberries or peaches.

ENJOY!!!

I don't always bake... Alfredo sauce... kinda

Recently I've been making sure not to let my fresh veggies go to waste. When my 2 year old turned the cold setting up to the highest possible number and froze everything in the fridge I knew I had to do something with them. I needed a yummy side to go with the steak I was making but didn't want to do the same old sauteed onions and mushrooms so I started throwing stuff into a pan and this delicious, garlicky, creamy sauce was the result. It was the perfect side dish and my husband begged me to write it down so I can easily reproduce it again. I hope you enjoy as much as he did!

Ingredients

2 Tbs. olive oil
1 medium red onion, diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 C. fresh mushrooms, sliced
4 chicken bouillon cubes
1 C. water
8 oz. cream cheese
1 Tbs. dried parsley

Directions

Heat olive oil over medium high heat in large skillet. Add onions and garlic. Cook until onions become clear, but do not caramelize. Add mushrooms and bullion, cook until mushrooms are tender. Add water, cream cheese and parsley. Stir until cheese melts, and mixture becomes thick. Serve over your favorite pasta.

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

Posting this now so I don't lose the slip of paper I have the recipe on - but I'll have to make a stop at the store soon to pick up some miniature peanut butter cups to actually make these to share (or to hoard and eat all by myself in the closet!) A friend at work brought these in to share and, being a true lover of peanut butter, I couldn't pass them up. Be warned - they are addictive!!

Ingredients:

1 3/4 C. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 C. Butter, softened
1/2 C. white sugar
1/2 C. peanut butter
1/2 C. packed brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 Tbs. milk
40 miniature chocolate covered peanut butter cups (unwrapped!!)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit

Sift together flour, salt, and baking soda in a small bowl. Set aside.

Cream together with mixer the butter, sugar, peanut butter, and brown sugar until fluffy. Beat in the egg, vanilla, and milk. Add the flour mixture and mix well.

Shape dough into 40 balls and place each into an ungreased mini muffin pan.

Bake at 375 degrees for approximately 8 minutes. Remove from the oven and immediately press a mini peanut butter cup into each ball. Cool and carefully remove from the pan.

Try not to eat them all at once! I dare you!

Banana Nut Bread

The original recipe I've adapted this from is a denser, more traditional banana nut bread and not very cake-like, which most of us now recognize as banana bread. I tempered that with a little baking powder and extra beating of the eggs. The taste is phenomenal according to those who've tried it. Give it a try yourself and let me know what you think! (Pictures forthcoming)

Ingredients

2 C. Flour
1 tsp. salt (I used kosher salt)
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. vanilla
1 C. butter, margarine, or shortening (I prefer using butter for flavor)
1 C. white sugar
1 1/4 C. brown sugar
2 C. overripe mashed bananas (about 6-7 med. bananas)
4 eggs, well beaten
1 C. chopped walnuts (this also works nicely with pecans for a slightly different flavor)

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

Grease two 9x5" bread loaf pans.

In a large bowl, sift together flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder. In a separate large bowl, blend together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add the cinnamon, vanilla, and well beaten eggs and mix until well blended. Stir in the nuts. Pour all at once over the dry ingredients, stirring just until blended. Do not over-stir. Pour into two greased 9x5" loaf pans. Bake at 325 for 50-60 minutes (but check at 40 minutes and every 5 minutes thereafter for done-ness. Don't over-bake!!) Crust of bread will be dark.

Remove from oven and allow to cool on cooling racks. Ideally, once cooled, wrap in aluminum foil or plastic wrap and keep in refrigerator for at least 2 hours before serving.

Blueberry Crisp

I got this recipe from a friend who brought it for 4th of July last year. This year I made it to take to an Independence Day celebration myself (but didn't take pictures! Bad me! I will make again soon so I can photograph the gloriousness of this dish! -mission complete!) It was labeled by the guests as "cobbler crack" and then the jokes went on to say it was a gateway cobbler... really, the humor just went downhill from there, but the dish itself was DELICIOUS!

I hope you enjoy as much as we did. Please, feel free to add your own "Cobbler Crack" jokes. :)

Ingredients

Fruit Filling
3 pints blueberries
1/2 C. Sugar
Juice and Zest from one lemon
3 Tbs. flour

Topping
1 C. flour
1 C. packed light-brown sugar
2/3 C. rolled oats
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 C. plus 2 Tbs. cold, unsalted butter cut into small pieces


Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit
Butter a 13X9 glass or ceramic baking dish

Mix the berries, sugar, lemon juice and zest and flour in a large bowl. Transfer the berry mixture to the baking dish.

To complete the topping, combine the flour, brown sugar, oats, cinnamon, and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Add the chunks of butter and pulse the machine repeatedly, in 2 to 3 second bursts, until the mixture is clumpy, like damp crumbs. Spread the topping mixture evenly over the fruit.

Bake for 30 minutes, until bubbly hot. Serve at any temperature, but to avoid burns please wait at least 10 minutes to cool. If you can!

Top with whipped cream, if desired, and ENJOY!.

Jumbo Brownie Filled Chocolate Chip Cookies

These decadent cookies have been labeled "Brownie pillows from heaven" by my 10 year old. Delicious chocolate chip cookies on the outside, but as soon as you bite into one you are surprised to find an incredible surprise: soft chewy brownie.

I hope you enjoy them as much as we have!

Ingredients

1 Batch of Brownies, baked according to directions*
1 C. unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 C. packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 egg yolk
1 Tbs. Vanilla extract
2 1/2 C. all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
3 - 4 C. chocolate chips, any variety**

* I used Ghiradelli Chocolate Supreme Mix
** I used about 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips and a little less than 2 c. of white chocolate chips


Directions

Prepare brownies according to directions in an 8" square pan. Let cool completely and cut into approximately 3 dozen squares. There will be about 1/4 of the brownies left over when you are done.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Beat butter and brown sugar together until creamy and smooth. Add eggs, yolk, and vanilla, beating until blended.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; gradually add to butter/sugar mixture, beating until just blended after each addition. Do not over mix. Stir in chocolate chips. Cover and chill dough for 1 hour.

For each cookie, scoop dough using a 1/4 c. scoop into rounded balls onto parchment lined cookie sheet placing cookies about 3" apart. Using your fingers, make an indentation in each cookie. Place 1 brownie square in center and press cookie dough up around and over brownie, reshaping to form a ball. Repeat procedure with remaining dough.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-17 minutes or until cookies are lightly browned and cookies look 'set'. Cool for a few minutes on the cookie sheet and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Yields approximately 2 1/2 dozen cookies.

ENJOY!