Cream of Coconut Cake

With Spring fast approaching, ( We have Dandelions in our yard!), and frequent 70+ degree weather, I thought a Spring themed cake would be nice.  The Cream of Coconut that goes into the cake is not Coconut Milk.  It is more like sweetened condensed coconut milk.  I can usually find it in either the ethnic food isle or the isle where drink mixes are sold (like bloody mary mix and margarita mix).  Make sure you stir it before pouring into the cake batter since the solids tend to hangout at the top of the can.

Cream of Coconut Cake

1 box white cake mix (yes I did)

4 egg whites

¼ C. vegetable oil

1 C. Cream of Coconut

1 8oz. container sour cream

1 small container of Cool whip

1 7oz bag of sweetened shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 350.  Mix the cake mix, egg whites,  vegetable oil,  cream of coconut, and sour cream until well blended and smooth.  Pour into prepared pan (bundt).    Bake for 35-40 minutes.   Remove cake from oven poke holes around cake and pour the remaining cream of coconut over the cake.  Let cool 10 minutes and turn out onto cake plate.  Let cool completely.  Once cooled mix the cool whip with the coconut and frost the cake.

Pork Spring Rolls

Since moving to Bluffton over 6 months ago we've been deprived of our occassional Asian fix.  Whether it be Chinese, Japanese, or Thai we just haven't found a restaurant that will satisfy our cravings.  Instead of hopping from mediocre restaurant to mediocre restaurant I decided to try my hand at spring rolls.  These are pretty basic since I didn't have fish sauce, fresh ginger, or cilantro on hand, but hey the kids probably wouldn't have eaten them with those ingredients anyway.  I also baked instead of fried to save on calories.  Bake at 425 for 20 minutes

Pork Spring Rolls
1 pkg Spring Roll papers
1 lb ground pork
1pkg Broccoli Slaw
1-2 T Soy Sauce
1-2 T Thai Sweet Chili Sauce (optional)

Directions

Brown ground pork in skillet with soy sauce.  Soak papers in water.  Arrange broccoli slaw and ground pork on paper, pour small amount of chili sauce and wrap papers folding sides in first and then roll tight.  Place on wire rack over cookies sheet.  Spray or brush spring rolls with oil and bake for 20 minutes or until brown and crispy.   

Quick Fix BBQ Chicken Pizza

Nothing is more satisfying than a tasty homemade pizza.  It's even better when you utilize leftovers.  I happened to have leftover roasted chicken from dinner last night and cilantro from the homemade salsa we did over the weekend.  With these two inspirations and the realization that I had a few packets of yeast hiding in the fridge I decided to make BBQ Chicken pizza.  I used a quick and easy pizza dough recipe that eliminates rising so this pizza can be stretched out, topped, and baked within the hour.  I may be living in Bluffton, South Carolina, but I am originally from Northern Kentucky, right across the river from Cincinnati, Ohio.  So for the bbq sauce I used Montgomery Inn's famous bbq sauce from Montogmery Inn Restaurant in Cincinnati.  Additional toppings included red onions, banana peppers, bacon, and mozzarella cheese.  Get creative with this and use what is on hand!  I baked at 500 degrees for 7-10 minutes on a pizza stone.

Quick Pizza Dough (makes roughly 2 10-12 inch pizzas)

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 1 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)

Directions

1. Combine flour, salt, sugar, and yeast in a large bowl. Mix in oil and warm water. Spread out on a large pizza pan. Top as desired.

Learning the Basics

Brownies are a pretty basic staple in the baking world.  It is hard to mess up a brownie and if all else fails you can go out and buy a box.  A tried and true, no fail, wonderful brownie mix, is the double chocolate mix from Ghirardelli.  It blows all the competition out of the water.  You can add pecans,  walnuts, or a creamcheese swirl to make it your own, but the basic recipe on the back of the box is good just the way it is. 

While brownies are basic, food photography is not.  It takes a lot of practice to get the right composition and lighting.  I've only been at it a year, but I feel the more I practice the better I get.  Not only was this blog created to share the occasional treats I concoct, but it also gives me the opportunity to practice my photography.  I'm currently using a Nikon D3000.  This photo was taken with my 35mm 1.8 lens.  I made some slight modifications to color and size in photoshop.

Beats $16.99

Over the weekend we had to run to the bank mart inside Kroger.  It was the Saturday before Valentine's Day and right inside the door they were selling chocolate covered strawberries.  They were simply decorated with drizzles of chocolate, but they looked scrumptious.  That is until I looked at the price tag, $16.99 for 8 strawberries?  Seemed a little high to me.  So I thought I could do the same job, if not better, for a lot cheaper.  A day later, a pint of strawberries, bag of chocolate chips, and bag of white chocolate chips, and waalaa.  Tuxedo Strawberries (which are waaay cuter than the $16.99 strawberries at the grocery store) for a lot less $$