Champagne cake with raspberry filling and champagne raspberry buttercream

I wanted something special for my mom's birthday cake this year. I have just finished the 4 Wilton cake decorating courses, so I knew I could make it pretty, but I wanted it to be yummy. She always makes me a delicious cake recipe for my birthday, so I wanted to do the same for her. I racked my brain for ideas and then champagne and raspberries just stuck in my head. This cake came out SO delicious. It was super easy too!
Champagne cake
1 box white cake mix (I use Duncan Hines)
Egg whites and oil (I use applesauce to replace oil)
Champagne to replace the amount of water called for on the box (Duncan Hines called for 1 cup water, but I used 1 1/4 cup champange- I used Verdi.....my favorite)

1. Grease baking pans and preheat oven according to box cake mix directions.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine ingredients and mix according to box cake mix directions.
3. Pour mix into prepared pans and bake according to directions on box cake mix.
4. Allow to cool 5 minutes in the pan. Invert pans on cooling wrack and allow to cool completely.

Raspberry champagne filling
12 oz raspberries- I used thawed frozen raspberries
1/2 cup sugar 1 tsp champagne (you could use water or lemon juice instead)
2 Tbsp cornstach
1 Tbsp raspberry liqueur (optional)

1. In a saucepan combine raspberries, sugar, champagne, cornstarch. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently until thickened.
2. Remove from heat, stir in raspberry liquer if using. -Note- you can strain the filling to make it seedless, but I liked the seeds. Original recipe with directions can be found here
3. Allow to cool completely.

Raspberry champagne buttercream
Original recipe for champagne buttercream here

2 sticks of butter at room temperature
4 cups confectioners sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
4 Tablespoons champagne
1 Tbsp raspberry preserves
Splash raspberry liquer

1. In mixing bowl, combine butter, sugar, vanilla, champagne. Beat until light and fluffy. Add champagne if needs to be thinned. Add sugar if needs to be thickened.
2. Stir in raspberry preserves. Stir in splash of raspberry liquer.

Assembly

1. Level cakes so they are flat on top.
2. Pipe a dam of frosting on the rim of bottom cake.
3. Fill cake with filling. Invert top layer so bottom of the cake is facing up and place over bottom layer.
4. Frost cake. Decorate.
5. Enjoy!

Low Carb Strawberry Shortcake

Tomorrow is my hubby's birthday and I wanted to make him something yummy, but more geared towards his low carb diet. We have been "cheating" on our diets lately with Valentine's Day and other birthdays, so it is time to get back on track. My hubby loves those cakey cookies you see in the store...the yummy ones with the frosting. A few years ago, the funfetti cake mix had a recipe for them. I made them for him when I first met him and he LOVED them. It is actually what he requested for his birthday "cake." We stopped at a fruit stand yesterday and picked up a half flat of strawberries, so I put them together and viola, low carb strawberry shortcake. So delicious!

Low Carb Strawberry Shortcake

Shortcake/Cake cookies
1 box sugar free (or low sugar) cake mix- I used yellow (Pillsbury)
2 eggs
1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce (the recipe calls for oil, but I used the applesauce)

1 quart strawberries, sliced
1-2 tsp Splenda sweetner

Cool Whip Free (or ohter sugar free or low sugar whipped topping)

1. Preheat the oven to 375F. In a large bowl, combine cake mix, eggs, applesauce and mix until combined and minimal clumps. If too dry and stiff, I add 1 tsp water. The dough should be thick.
2. Grease baking sheet. Scoop dough onto baking sheet. With a floured spoon/fingers/glass, flatten tops of cookies.
3. Bake cookies at 375 F until lightly browned (approx 6-8 minutes). Allow to cool completely.
4. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine strawberries and Splenda. I add 1 Tbsp water. Allow to cool in refrigerator while cookies cool.
5. When ready to eat, place cookie on plate, top with strawberries and whipped topping. Enjoy!!

Crusty white bread

I love making pizza dough and bread at home, but could never get that crispy crust. I decided to google search it and found lots of recipes with kneading and such....stuff I just don't have the time for. Then I came across the King Arthur recipe with no kneading required and decided to try it. YUM! I first tried it for Superbowl and made sandwich rolls. They were good, but I had skipped the 2 hour rise prior to putting it in the refrigerator and they didn't get as big and puffy as I would have liked. I made them again today (made the dough a few days ago) and awesome!!

Crusty white bread

1 1/2 cups water (between 80 and 100 F)
1 Tbsp instant yeast
1 1/2 tsp salt
3 cups flour

1. In the bowl of your stand mixer, pour water and yeast. Allow to bloom for about 5 minutes (you can skip this and just put everything in the mixer like the King Arthur recipe says, but this is how I do it).
2. Add flour and salt to water and yeast and on low speed mix until combined. Turn the mixer up to medium speed and allow to mix for about 1 minute.
3. Transfer the dough to a large bowl. Set the bowl in a non-drafty part of your kitchen and cover with a clean towel (or plastic wrap). Allow to rise for 2 hours. (Per the King Arthur recipe, you can skip this step, but I like it better when I didn't).
4. Place the covered bowl of dough into the refrigerator for 2 hours up to 7 days.
5. When ready to use, punch the dough down, divide into portions (depends on what you want to make- rolls, loaves, etc), shape to desired shape and set on floured surface. Sprinkle the top of your dough with flour. Allow to rise for at least 45 minutes.
6. Preheat the oven to 450-500F. I used a pizza stone to bake the bread, so I preheated this as well. On the lower rack, place a shallow metal or cast iron pan and have 1 cup of water prepared.
7. Place dough onto baking stone (or baking pan). Fill cast iron pan/metal pan with water. Allow to bake until golden brown (approx 15-20 minutes).

Mexican Pasta Salad

We are going to be tailgating tomorrow for my hubby's favorite time of year....the Monster Jam. I wanted to make a pasta salad that would keep without refrigeration. I started dreaming up different concotions and came up with this. I found a dressing recipe here, but I tweaked it a bit.

Mexican Pasta Salad

1 pound pasta, cooked and cooled
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 bag frozen corn, cooked and cooled
1/2 small red onion diced
2 tomatoes diced
(I was going to use a roasted red pepper, but I didn't get to use it this time)

Dressing
Juice of 2 limes
1 clove of garlic minced
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 Tbsp chopped cilantro
1/2 tsp honey

1. In a large bowl, combine pasta, black beans, corn, onion, and tomatoes.
2. In food processor (I used a mini one that came with my stick blender), combine garlic, lime juice, olive oil, cumin, salt, pepper, cilantro, and honey. Blend until combined and cilantro is well chopped.
3. Pour dressing over salad and mix well.

Freschetta Proud To Support Pink Program and a Giveaway

I am a very fortunate blogger to be a part of the Freschetta Fresh Connection Team. They recently sent me a letter telling me about their Proud to Support Pink Porgram. They are going to try to raise $50,000 to doante to the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. They will donate $1 for every code from a specially marked package of Freschetta pizza that is entered on their site (www.ProudToSupportPink.com). You can enter codes until October 31st (sorry for the late notice...I just got the package being that we moved recently).
As if the donation for breast cancer research is not enough, they are also giving away 50 pink iPod shuffles per week. On top of that giveaway, Freschetta will also send 50 iPod shuffles per week to 4 cancer centers around the US for patients to use during their treatments.
The Proud to Support Pink website has a place you can make a donation to this very important cause. There is also survivor stories, a place for people to share their journey through the diagnosis of breast cancer, to the treatment, to the CURE!! It is also a place family members can post their experiences. Breast cancer resources for further information is also available at this site. Everyone should check it out!

My family has been touched by breast cancer. My grandmother (my mom's mother) felt as if her breast was pulling or was heavier than normal. She went to be checked and was diagnosed with breast cancer. She was given the options and opted for a surgery. She is more than 10 years cancer free!

October is breast cancer awareness month! Check out the www.ProudToSupportPink.com website for information about breast cancer, for support and encouragement through other's journeys, to make a donation, to enter to win an iPod....there is also a coupon for Freschetta pizza. While we are trying to raise awareness for breast cancer and seeing that I work in health care, I must also plug in here that make sure you are performing monthly self breast exams. Early detection is the key!

If you plan on having a pizza anytime soon (maybe a good meal before trick-or-treating), have a pizza for the cause....be sure to enter your code on the site!

Now for the giveaway...In order to promote this program, Freschetta is providing a kit for me to give to one of my readers.
The kit will contain a coupon for a Freschetta pizza and 2 pairs of pink earphones.

In order to enter, leave a comment on this post. Since it is October, leave a comment about your favorite things about October.
The winner will be chosen at random on October 29.

Disclaimer: Freschetta has contacted me about this program and giveaway. They have provided me with a kit identical to the giveaway, but the views expressed here are my own.

Pumpkin Spice Bagels

I made these bagels last weekend and I was so happy with the recipe! YUM! I will say though, only make as many as you will eat the day you make them, because they will be a little tough the next day.

Pumpkin Spice Bagels
(Makes 8 bagels)

2/3 cup warm water (around 80 F)
2 1/4 tsp yeast
1/2 cup pumpkin puree (you could make it fresh, or use canned, but be sure NOT to get pumpkin pie mix. You could also substitute mashed sweet potato)
1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp all spice
3 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda
2 T water
1 egg white

1. Pour warm water in bowl of mixer and sprinkle in yeast. Allow yeast to proof for about 3-5 minutes (water will look cloudy).
2. Add the brown sugar, salt, pumpkin and the spices to the water and yeast. Stir to combine.
3. Add flour to wet ingredients. Fit the mixer with the dough hook. Turn on mixer and mix/knead for about 7 minutes. (You could mix together and then knead by hand).
4. Place dough into a bowl that has been prepared with cooking spray and cover bowl with clean towe. Allow to rise about 1 hour, or until doubled in size.
5. Divide dough into portions (probably about 8). Roll the dough portion into a ball. Flatten the ball slightly and then poke a hole through the center with your finger. Shape into bagel shape and place on a floured pan. Cover with the plastic wrap allow to rest for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, place pan into refrigerator overnight.
6. When ready to cook, remove the pan from the refrigerator and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, bring large pot of water to a boil. Add in 1 tsp of baking soda to boiling water.
7. Preheat oven to 400 F.
8. Drop bagels into boiling water (don't overcrowd the pot) and allow to boil about 30-45 seconds per side (flip after 30 seconds). Remove from water and allow to dry slightly on a clean towel. The original recipe recommends dipping the bottom of the bagels into cornmeal. I didn't have any, and my bagels stuck pretty bad, so I would recommend using it. Place bagels onto baking sheet.
9. In a small bowl, mix water and egg white. Brush tops of bagels with egg wash.
10. Bake bagels at 400 F for 20 minutes or until lightly browned.

Pizza Dough

I came across this recipe a long time ago and filed away as a recipe I wanted to try sometime. I just never made it because usually I make pizza at the last minute which doesn't allow time to let the dough rise overnight in the refrigerator like this dough requires. Somehow, my mom came across the same recipe, tried it, and swore it was the best dough she had ever made. Well, a few weeks ago I decided to make personal pizzas for a football get together. I put out a pizza toppings bar so everyone could put their own toppings on the pizza. I decided to make the dough, bake it prior to everyone arriving so that I could enjoy our company and the football game. The dough was SO easy to work with. You could get it very thin without the dough tearing. It didn't stick while rolling it out. It was also quite delicious!

Pizza dough
(Note- I am posting the whole recipe- I ended up making 1 and a half batches, and found the mixer did better making half a batch. The whole recipe was too much for my mixer to handle. I recommend making the dough in 2 batches)

4 and 1/2 cups flour (all purpose or bread flour), chilled
1 and 3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp instant yeast
1 and 3/4 cups ice cold water
(Original recipe adds in olive oil, but I didn't have any, so I left it out- see link if you'd like to use it)

1. In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the flour, salt, and instant yeast. Add in the cold water while mixing on low speed until the flour is all absorbed. Switch to the dough hook and mix on medium speed for 5 to 7 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and sticky. If the dough looks too dry, add in a few drops of water. It is looks to wet, add in flour slowly until the dough pulls from the side of the bowl.

2. Seperate dough into desired number of pizzas (should make about 6 regular size, but many more personal sized pizza). Round each piece of dough into a ball Place the dough onto a floured sheet pan. Mist the top of the dough with olive oil (I used cooking spray). Cover dough with plastic wrap or damp towel. Put the pan/dough into the refrigerator overnight to rest the dough. You can also make it 3 days in advance and keep it in the refrigerator or put in a freezer bag and freeze up to 3 months (per original recipe).

3. Remove the dough from the refrigerator about 2 hours prior to cooking. Sprinkle the dough with flour and press to flatten to disks. Cover the dough with the plastic wrap or damp towel and allow to rest for 2 hours.

4. If you have one, place a baking stone in the lowest rack in the oven and heat as high as oven will go about 45 minutes prior to baking pizza. If you don't have a pizza stone, you can bake the dough on the back side of a cookie sheet, but do not preheat it.

5. Flour the surface you plan to roll out the dough liberally. Roll dough to desired thickeness. At this point, I usually put the dough onto the stone and then put the toppings. So, place dough onto preheated pizza stone if using or put onto back side of cookie sheet. Apply sauce, cheese and other toppings.

6. Bake at 475-500F about 2 minutes, check and rotate if needed. Bake approx 5-10 minutes or until the dough has browned and the cheese is melty and browned.

Enjoy!
For my toppings bar, I used 2 chip and dip platters. I put out bacon, sausage, ground beef, ham, tomatoes, sun dried tomatoes, mushrooms, peppers and onions, olives, roasted garlic. It was a lot of fun and so tasty!