Easy Surprise Lemon Cake

Surprise Lemon Cake, originally uploaded by predictablyhungry.

I was trying to think of a Lemon Cake I could make for my mother's birthday. Something that wasn't too difficult, and didn't take too long. Then I stumbled upon this recipe and made some changes to fit my taste better.

This cake is wonderful because the dollops of lemon pie filling in the cake sink to the bottom as it bakes, leaving perfect little surprise pockets of lemon.

What you'll need:
Cake:

1 (18.25-oz.) pkg. pudding-included white cake mix

(oil, egg whites, and water per directions for egg-white cake recipe).

Filling:

1 15.75 oz. can of lemon pie filling (I used about 2/3 of the can in
the cake, and a few teaspoons in frosting)

Frosting:

1 can of lemon frosting

1 8 oz. container frozen whipped topping

1 teaspoon lemon juice (optional)

1 teaspoon lemon zest (optional)

I used the added lemon juice and zest
to bring down the sweetness of the frosting.

What You'll Do:
1. Heat oven to 350°F.

2. Spray a 9x13" pan with nonstick cooking spray.

3. Prepare cake mix as directed on package according to egg white recipe, using water, oil and egg whites.

4. Spread batter into pan.

5. Drop pie filling by heaping teaspoonfuls evenly onto batter. (I did a checkered pattern)

6. Bake at 350°F. for 30 to 40 minutes or until edges pull away from pan and top is golden brown.

7. Cool cake in pan until completely cooled.

FROSTING:

1. In medium bowl, combine 1/2 can of frosting and 1/2 tub of whipped topping; whisk until blended well. Add lemon juice and zest, whisk
until blended. (The kitchen aid mixer was perfect for this, using the whisk attachment).

2. Spread on cake.

If you want more frosting just just the whole can and tub.

Chocolate Chip and Pretzel Cookies

Chocolate Chip and Pretzel Cookies, originally uploaded by predictablyhungry.

I recently took these cookies to a party, and they were gone within minutes. Two batches devoured in less than a half hour. Nearly every person there had come up to me at some point during the evening to let me know how good they were. My friends let me know that everyone loved these cookies.

I had tasted them out of the oven, and thought they were good but nothing to write home about. So I grabbed a cooled off cookie, and bit in. They're definitely way better after they've been out of the oven for a minute because the pretzels get their nice crunch back.

What You'll Need:

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

14 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar

1/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1 teaspoon Kosher salt

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

3 oz. pretzels, chopped/broken

1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 cups milk chocolate chips

What You'll Do:

1. Preheat oven to 375. If using dark pans preheat to 350.

2. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

3. Whisk flour and baking soda together in medium bowl; set aside.

4. Heat 10 tablespoons butter in a small pot over medium-high heat until melted.

5. Continue cooking, swirling pan constantly until butter is dark golden brown, about 3 minutes.

6. Remove pot from heat and using heatproof spatula, transfer browned butter to large heatproof bowl. (I used my kitchen-aid mixer bowl).

7. Stir remaining 4 tablespoons butter into hot butter until completely melted. (I find it's faster to cut that 4 tablespoons into quarters).

8. Add both sugars, salt, and vanilla to bowl with melted butter and whisk until fully incorporated.

9. Add egg and yolk and whisk until mixture is smooth with no sugar lumps remaining, about 30 seconds.

10. Let mixture stand 3 minutes, then whisk for 30 seconds.

11. Repeat process of resting and whisking 2 more times until mixture is thick, smooth, and shiny.

12. Using the paddle of your mixer, stir in flour mixture until just combined, about 1 minute.

13. Using your rubber spatula, stir in chocolate chips and pretzels until well mixed and no clumps of flour remain.

14. Using a small spoon, scoop about 1 inch balls onto the cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

15. Bake cookies 1 tray at a time until cookies are golden brown and still puffy, and edges have begun to set but centers are still soft. (With my dark pans and the oven at 350, it's approximately 10 minutes). Be sure to rotate baking sheet halfway through baking.

16. Transfer baking sheet to wire rack; cool cookies completely before serving.

Blueberry Cheesecake

Blueberry Cheesecake, originally uploaded by predictablyhungry.

I had decided this Thanksgiving that I wanted to try and make a cheesecake. I'd pondered pumpkin cheesecake, but after realizing not all the guests liked pumpkin I had decided on a plain cheesecake. So I scoured the internet for cheesecake recipes. I looked through my library of food network magazine and searched all my favorite food blogs. After reading about 20 recipes to get an idea of what make a cheesecake I came up with my own. I know, flour isn't normally in cheesecake but I figured it would help it set to make it fool proof (since this was my first attempt).

Then one the cheesecake was complete, I'd decided it was missing something and added blueberry topping. Needless to say, the cheesecake was a hugehit. I was floored at how great it came out, and fell in love with the crust. Next time I make it I plan on making the crust run along the side of the cheesecake as well.

What You'll Need:
Crust:

- 2 cups of crushed graham crackers (I hand crushed them so that there were some decent sized chunks of cracker in the crust rather than powder to add a crunchy texture to the smooth cheesecake)

- 7 Tbsp butter melted

- 1/2 Tsp cinnamon

- 1/4 cup sugar

- Pinch of salt

The Filling:

- 4 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese

- 1 1/2 cups white sugar

- 3/4 cup whole milk

- 4 eggs

- 1 cup sour cream

- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

What You'll Do:

First, the crust!

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

2. In a bowl combine graham cracker crumbs, butter, sugar, cinnamon, and salt.

3 Press the mixture along the bottom of a 9 inch springform pan lined along the outside with foil.

4. Bake in oven for approximately 10 minutes, remove and set aside.

The filling:
5. In a large bowl, mix cream cheese with sugar until smooth.

6. Mix in milk, and then the eggs one at a time, mixing just enough to incorporate.

7. Mix in sour cream, vanilla and flour until smooth (but don't overbeat!).

8. Pour filling into prepared crust.

9. Place the pan into a water bath. That is, place the pie pan into a roasting pan, then slowly add boiling water into the roasting pan until just below the edge of the foil line (about halfway up the pie pan).

10. Bake in oven for 1 hour.

11. When timer beeps, turn oven off but do not open the oven.

12. Let the cheesecake slowly cool in the oven for about 6 hours (this helps it set and helps prevent cracking caused by rapid cooling).

13. Chill in refrigerator until ready to serve.

14. Add blueberry topping just before serving (optional, see below).

Blueberry Topping:

- 1 can of blueberry pie filling

- 1 teaspoon cinnamon

1. Add blueberries to pot and add cinnamon. Simmer approximately 5 to 10 minutes, stirring frequently.

2. Let cool.

3. Spread on top of cheesecake prior to releasing from springform pan.


Enjoy!

Kumquat Marmalade

Kumquats, originally uploaded by FotoosVanRobin.

Last fall my father gave me buckets and buckets of kumquats from his large kumquat tree. He always gives me way more than I could ever possibly eat, and I didn't want them to go to waste so i decided to try something new: Kumquat Marmalade.

I researched recipe after recipe, and found this simple one.

Which I did.

And the end result was pretty darn good. I took about 50 pictures trying to get a decent photo of my end results for this blog, but failed miserably.

Anyway, if you find yourself with way too many kumquats I definitely recommend this recipe.


*And thank you to fotoosvanrobin for this amazing picture.

Lemon Fettuccine

Lemon Fettuccine , originally uploaded by predictablyhungry.

I've always been a fan of the Lemon Fettuccine at C&O's in Venice Beach. They've got amazing garlic knots and amazing fettuccine. The secret? Little bits of lemon zest.

So when I stumbled upon this recipe I immediately scanned the recipe list for zest, and it was there. I followed the recipe provided for a bit, and then ventured off a bit on my own to make it more to my liking.

What you'll need:

- Salt

- 12ounces fettuccine

- 1 clove of garlic minced

- 1tablespoon unsalted butter

- 1large shallot, minced

- 1 1/4 cups heavy cream

- 1large egg yolk

- 2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest

-1/3cup grated parmesan cheese, plus more for garnish

- Freshly ground pepper

- 1 large chicken breast

What you'll do:

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

2. Add the fettuccine and cook as the label directs.

3. Drain. (You can reserve a bit of cooking water in case the sauce gets thicken than you'd like.

4. Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat.

5. Add the shallot, garlic, and a pinch of salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly golden, about 3 minutes.

6. Whisk the cream, egg yolk and lemon zest in a bowl.

7. Reduce the heat to low and add the cream mixture and cheese to the skillet.

8. Cook, whisking, until slightly thickened, about 2 minutes.

9. Season with salt and 2 to 3 teaspoons pepper.

10. Keep at a light simmer while cooking chicken, stirring occasionally.

11. Season the chicken with salt, pepper, and some cayenne pepper.

12. Saute chicken in a pain with a little bit of oil until cooked.

12. Add the pasta to the skillet and toss, you can add enough of the reserved cooking water to loosen the sauce.


13. Serve chicken on bed of pasta

14. Garnish with more cheese and why not add in some basil if you'd like.

"Monster Marshmallow Cookies"

"Monster Marshmallow Cookies", originally uploaded by predictablyhungry.

Found these in the Food Network Magazine. I altered the recipe in that I used salted butter and walnuts in lieu of pecans.

I didn't think they were the best cookies I've made, but everyone at the party I took them to demolished them in 10 minutes and asked me to go home to bake some more.

What You'll Need:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour

- 1 teaspoon baking powder

- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

- 2 sticks salted butter, softened

- 1 cup granulated sugar

- 1 cup packed light brown sugar

- 2 large eggs, at room temperature

- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

- 2 cups quick-cooking oats

- 1 1/4 cups crispy rice cereal

- 1 cup milk chocolate chips

- 1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

- 1 cup miniature marshmallows

What You'll Do:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

3. Combine the flour, baking powder and baking soda in a large bowl.

4. In a separate bowl, beat the butter and both sugars with a mixer on medium-high speed until fluffy.

5. Beat in the eggs one at a time on medium speed.

6. Beat in the vanilla.

7. Add the flour mixture and beat on low speed until combined.

8. Stir the oats, cereal, chocolate chips, walnuts and marshmallows into the dough.

9. Drop about a tablespoonful of the dough onto the prepared baking sheets, about 3 inches apart.

10. Bake the cookies in batches until golden, 10 to 12 minutes.

11.Transfer to racks to cool.

Low-Fat Alfredo Sauce

I got home the other night and realized we only had shrimp, refried beans, and Spanish rice. Looks like my only option was shrimp burritos... which I did NOT want. I wanted the shrimp, I wanted some pasta. I wanted alfredo sauce. I did NOT want to go to the market in the rain for a jar of the stuff. So I decided I'd try to concoct some sauce from scratch... without the half and half or cream (remember, I did not want to go to the market).

It ended up pretty damn good.

What you'll Need:

- 1 tbsp butter

- 3 tbsp cornstarch (or flour ... I didn't have any)

- 2 cups low-fat milk (2%)

- 1 cup grated parmesan cheese

- Salt to taste

- Pepper to taste

- 1 tsp dried basil

What you'll Do:

1. Melt the butter

2. Once the butter is melted, mix in 2 tbsp cornstarch until thickened

3. Whisk in milk and basil

4. Whisk in parmesan cheese until melted

5. Whisk in remaining cornstarch

6. Let simmer until thickened

Once it's removed from heat it'll continue to thicken.

We spooned the sauce over cooked fusili noodles (all I had) and shrimp that were sauteed in olive oil, garlic, and salt and pepper.

I'd honestly meant to take a picture, but it was so good and we were so hungry we ate it all.