Apple night

I hosted craft night again this month, and the theme this time was apples. Here's the menu:

1. Apple cheddar puffs, half with chicken and half with bacon (made the same way as the spinach artichoke puffs but with shredded chicken or crumbled bacon, grated apple, and cheddar cheese)
2. Apple and red Leicester risotto
3. Apple cranberry crumbcake
4. Baked apples

At the end of the night the only thing left was some baked apples, which I think I'll make into apple enchiladas.

More bread experimentation

Two more friendship bread varieties:

Carrot cake (vanilla with extra cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves, and grated carrot) with cream cheese frosting

Bumbleberry cheesecake cake (vanilla bread cut in half, sandwiched with cream cheese frosting and leftover bumbleberry filling), great frozen.

Chocolate angelfood cake

I made a chocolate angel food cake for my ungrateful brother's birthday. It was delicious!

Chocolate Angel Food Cake
1 2/3 Cup egg whites (1 dozen)

1 cup minus 1 tbsp cake flour

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup cocoa

1/2 tsp. salt

1-1/2 tsp. cream of tartar

1-1/2 tsp. vanilla

Sift flour, cocoa & 3/4 c. sugar 4 times. In a large bowl of electricmixer, combine egg whites, salt, cream of tartar & vanilla. Beat on highspeed until whites are stiff and stand in peaks. At medium speed add 1 c.sugar until blended. At low speed, add the flour mixture. Push batter intoa 10 inch tube pan. Bake at 375 for 35 minutes. Invert at once and lethang until completely cold. Frost with chocolate butter frosting.

Chocolate buttercream frosting

6 tbsp butter, softened

1/4-1/2 c milk

1/2 c cocoa powder

approx. 1/2 bag powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Cream butter and vanilla in mixer. Mix in cocoa powder. Alternate mixing in milk and powdered sugar until you reach spreading consistency.

Baby shower food

We had a potluck baby shower at work last week. I made spinach artichoke puffs and chocolate cherry polenta cake with cream cheese frosting (next time I'll make just one layer dusted with powdered sugar instead of the cream cheese frosting).

Here's the cake.

And here are the spinach artichoke puffs.

Spinach Artichoke Puffs
4-6 roasted garlic cloves
1-10 oz package frozen chopped spinach, thawed
1-14 oz can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1-10 oz jar Alfredo sauce
1 c shredded mozzarella
1/2 c grated Parmesan
1/2-8 oz package cream cheese, softened
1 pkg puff pastry, thawed

1. Mix everything in an 8x8 inch baking dish and bake for 30 minutes at 350.
2. Cut each pastry sheet into 36 squares. Place each one into a spot in a greased mini-muffin tin.
3. Once the spinach artichoke dip has cooled, stir thoroughly and put about a tablespoon or so on top of each pastry square. Bake at 375 for 10 minutes or until the pastry begins to brown at the edges.
4. Serve warm.