Peek-A-Boo! {TWD} Double Apple Bundt Cake/Jan's Fresh Pear Cake

Hello friends!  Life has been crazy crazy crazy, like it often is.  But its back to reality, and back to blogging for me...finally!  Oh, how I've missed being an active part of the fanatic foodie world.  Don't worry, next time I will catch you up on all of my recent distractions, but today my post is dedicated to Tuesdays With Dorie.  Lynn of Honey Muffin chose for us to bake Dorie's Double Apple Bundt Cake this week.  Click HERE  for the complete recipe for this sweet autumn treat. 

I'm not gonna lie to you, I didn't make this cake.  I didn't make any cake.  But my mother made her very own Pear Cake that took our latest family party by storm, and I couldn't resist sharing it with you.  So moist.  So perfectly spiced.  So... So... well, you'll just have to try it for yourselves to know what I mean. This will be perfect for the next time you have friends over for dinner and games, or the next family gathering you attend.  Happy Fall, my foodie friends!



Fresh Pear Cake

From Janet Porter (my momma)

Ingredients

2 cups sugar

1 tsp salt

3 eggs (well beaten)

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups cooking oil

2 tsp cinnamon

3 cups flour

3 cups pears (peeled & sliced very thin)

1 tsp baking soda

Directions

 

1. Blend sugar, eggs, and cooking oil together.

2. Sift flour, soda, salt together.

3. Gradually add one cup at a time to sugar mixture.

4. Then add the vanilla and cinnamon and pears. Mix well and pour into a well greased and floured tube

or bundt pan.

5. Bake at 350' for approximately one hour.

***The softer the pears the more moist the cake will be.

Glaze

Melt and mix together:

1/2 square butter or margarine

1 cup sugar

1/4 tsp salt

Add:

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/4 tsp soda

Mix and boil for 2 minutes.

Let cool a bit then drizzle over cake.

Enjoy!



Banana Split Ice Cream Cake for Dick's 27th...Mmmmmmm...

My hunka hunka burnin' love just turned another year older, and wiser, too!  When I asked what birthday treat he wanted he couldn't decide.  In fact, he couldn't even give me any options to choose from - may have been because he was glued to the Game Cube with his brother for hours on end - but I jumped at the chance to make something marvelous I'd seen online just days before: banana split ice cream cake.  Your blood sugar spikes just reading that, doesn't it?  I know.  With an Oreo crust, sliced bananas, 2 kinds of ice cream, a layer of gooey fudgey goodness, and perfectly sweet strawberries and toasted coconut to top it off, how could it not?  There may not be a birthday in your family or circle of friends coming up, but I'd strongly suggest you find some reason - any reason - to celebrate so you can make this cake.  They won't be screaming for ice cream, my friends.  They'll be screaming for you!

Banana Split Ice Cream Cake

Adapted from recipe found at Tasty Kitchen

Ingredients

1 package Oreos (I used double stuff w/ good results!)

1/2 stick (4 Tbsp) butter, melted

4 bananas, sliced into 1/4 inch pieces

1 pint strawberry ice cream

1 jar fudge sauce (loved special dark!)

1 pint vanilla ice cream

4 c. sliced fresh strawberries, sweetened with sugar

1 regular can whipped topping

1 c. coconut, toasted

Directions

1. Crush oreos in a food processor, or place them in a Ziploc bag & crush them with a rolling pin.  Mix in melted butter & press into the bottom of a 8-10 inch spring form pan.

2. Layer sliced bananas evenly over the cookie crust until it is completely covered.

3. Spread softened strawberry ice cream over the bananas.  This works best if you space individual scoops over the banana layer, then flatten and smooth them into each other with a rubber spatula.  Freeze for 2 hours.

4. Remove lid from jar of fudge & warm it in the microwave for 30 seconds.  Spread it evenly over the layer of strawberry ice cream & freeze for another hour.

5. Spread softened vanilla ice cream over the fudge layer the same way you did the strawberry ice cream layer.  Freeze until just before you're ready to serve. 

6. Remove the spring form.

7. Pile the strawberries onto the cake, leaving about 1 1/2 inch border around the edge.  If you put the strawberries on earlier and let them freeze, the cake will fall apart when you cut into it.  Trust me...that's why there are no pictures of individual pieces of cake.

8. Cover the edge of the cake with loads of whipped topping, and sprinkle with toasted coconut. 

~Your Cinco de Mayo Fiesta Menu~

Hola, amigos! And that's about the extent of my Spanish speaking abilities, despite the fact that Dick has tried to give me multiple lessons when I'm trapped in the car with him on the 4-hr drive to see his family in So. UT. He lived in Chile for 2 years when he went on a mission for our church, and he loves to speak Spanish any chance he gets. But just because I don't speak Spanish doesn't mean I won't eat it! I tried my hand at some Mexican recipes this week in the spirit of Cinco de Mayo, and they were a big, BIG hit!

The entree I chose to make is a copycat recipe from a very popular Mexican restaurant called Cafe Rio. By far the best thing on their menu is the sweet pork salad, so that is exactly what I made! My awesome sis-in-law, Megan, happened to find these recipes on this website, and let me in on her little secret. I thought it would take forever to make them because there are a few different parts to the salad if you want to get them just right, and I did! You start with a warm flour tortilla sprinkled with cheese, followed by cilantro-lime rice, black beans, sweet pork, lettuce, and topped off with the best cilantro ranch dressing in the WORLD! It didn't take long at all, just a little planning ahead for the pork to be in the crockpot, which gives you plenty of time to put everything else together. Trust me, if you like Mexican food, and you like salads, you're going to looooooove this one! And don't skimp on any part - its totally worth making the entire thing!

For dessert, I had to go with Tres Leches, of course! Its super sweet, and super soggy (in the best way you can possibly imagine), and completely and utterly satisfying. That is just a normal slice of this 3-milk cake, but when you add the mango & cinnamon this recipe calls for it will literally uproot you from where you are sitting and take you to a Mexican beach, leaving all of your worries behind. Mangoes are definitely my worst enemy when it comes to pitting a fruit, but they are so delicious, and absolutely take this cake over the top, so it is well-worth the sticky hands and juicy mess - trust me! Well, now you have to make it, don't you?! Enjoy!

Sweet Pork Salad From Cafe Rio

From www.favfamilyrecipes.com

Assembling your salad:

1. start with a warm flour tortilla, sprinkled with cheese.

2. Top with a heaping spoonful of cilantro-lime rice.

3. Top with a spoonful of black beans.

4. Top with 1/4-1/2 c. sweet pork.

5. Top with 1-2 c. of shredded Romaine lettuce.

6. Drizzle with cilantro ranch dressing.

7. Dig in!

Cilantro-lime rice

Ingredients

1 c. uncooked rice (I used brown w/ good results!)

1 tsp. butter or margarine

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp. freshly squeezed lime juice

1 can (15 oz) chicken broth

1 c. water

1 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lime juice

2 tsp. sugar

3 Tbsp freshly chopped cilantro

Directions

In a saucepan combine rice, butter, garlic, 1 tsp. lime juice, chicken broth & water. Bring to a boil. Cover and cook on low until rice is tender. Remove from heat. In a small bowl, combine lime juice, sugar & cilantro. Pour over hot cooked rice & mix in as you fluff the rice.

Black Beans

Ingredients

2 Tbsp olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp. ground cumin

1 can black beans, rinsed & drained

1 1/3 c. tomato juice

1 1/2 tsp. salt

2 Tbsp fresh chopped cilantro

Directions

In a nonstick skillet or saucepan, cook garlic and cumin in olive oil over med. heat until you can smell it. Add beans, tomato juice & salt. Continually stir until heated through. Just before serving, stir in the cilantro.

Sweet Pork

Ingredients

2-3 lbs pork (I used bone-in Boston butt)

3 cans coke (not diet!)

1/4 c. brown sugar

dash garlic salt

1/4 c. water

1 can sliced green chilies

3/4 can enchilada sauce, medium spiciness

1 c. brown sugar

Directions

Put the pork in a heavy duty Ziploc back to marinade. Add about a can and a half of coke and about 1/4 c. of brown sugar. Marinade for a few hours, or overnight.

Drain marinade & put pork, 1/2 can of coke, water, and garlic salt in a crock pot on high 3-4 hrs, or low for 8 hrs, until it shreds easily (don't let it dry out!). Remove pork from crock pot and drain any liquid left in the pot. Shred the pork.

In a food processor or blender, blend 1/2 can coke, chilies, enchilada sauce and remaining brown sugar (about a cup, you can add a little more or less to taste...). If it looks too thick, add more coke, little by little.

Put shredded pork & sauce in a crockpot and cook on low for 2 hours. That's it!

Cilantro Ranch Dressing

Ingredients

1 packet TRADITIONAL Hidden Valley Ranch mix (not buttermilk!)

1 c. mayonnaise

1 c. buttermilk

2 tomatillos, husks removed, diced

1/2 bunch of fresh cilantro

1 clove garlic

juice of 1 lime

1 jalapeno (I kept the ribs & seeds for a little kick!)

Directions

Mix all ingredients in a blender. That's it!!!

Tres Leches Cake

Adapted from Food Network Magazine, May 2010

Ingredients

Non-stick spray, to prepare your pan

4 large eggs

1 c. sugar

2/3 c. unsalted butter, melted

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 1/4 c. milk (I used skim w/ excellent results!)

1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

12-oz can evaporated milk

14-oz can sweetened condensed milk

2 ripe mangoes

2 Tbsp. sugar

Whipped cream

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and 8-inch square baking pan.

2. Make the cake: Beat the eggs & sugar in a large bowl w/ a mixer until pale & slightly thick, ~6 min. Slowly beat in the melted butter, then beat in the vanilla & 1/4 c. milk.

3. whisk the flour, baking powder & salt in a bowl. Sift the flour mixture over the egg mixture, then gently fold together w/ a rubber spatula to make a thick batter. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan & bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, ~30 minutes. Run a knife along the edges to release the cake from the pan.

4. Meanwhile, whisk the remaining 2 c. milk, the evaporated milk, & condensed milk in a bowl. Pierce the warm cake all over w/ a fork, then pour the milk mixture evenly on top. Cover & refrigerate at least one hour, or overnight.

5. Before serving, make the mango topping: Peel, pit, & dice the mangoes. Puree half the mangoes in a blender w/ 2 Tbsp. sugar. Transfer to a bowl & fold in the remaining diced mango.

6. Top each slice of cake with mango topping, a little whipped cream, and sprinkle with cinnamon.