Happy Cinco de Mayo

I realized I have THREE tres leches cake recipes in my cookbook...go figure. So, I thought I'd post them here and y'all can vote for your favorite version--or even post yours if it's better!

TRES LECHES #1
    3 eggs                                                         
    1/4 cup milk                                                   
    1 cup sugar                                                    
    1 cup flour                                                    
    1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder                                  
    1 tablespoon vanilla extract                                   
    1 can sweetened condensed milk                                 
    1 can evaporated milk                                          
    1 tablespoon vanilla extract                                   
    1 cup whipping cream, whipped    
                             
350 F. Separate eggs. Beat whites till fluffy. Add sugar slowly. Blend in yolks, one at a time. Alternately blend in milk, flour, and baking powder. Add vanilla and blend. Pour into greased square pan and bake 45 min. Pierce with fork and drizzle sauce. Top with whipped cream.


TRES LECHES #2
 1 cup white sugar
 5 egg yolks
 5 egg whites
 1/3 cup milk
 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
 1 cup all-purpose flour
 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
 1 (12 fluid ounce) can evaporated milk
 1 pint heavy whipping cream
 10 maraschino cherries

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Butter and flour bottom of a 9 inch springform pan.
2. Beat the egg yolks with 3/4 cup sugar until light in color and doubled in volume. Stir in milk, vanilla, flour and baking powder.
3. In a small bowl, beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually add remaining 1/4 cup sugar. Beat until firm but not dry. Fold egg whites into yolk mixture. Pour into prepared pan.
4. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 45 to 50 minutes or until cake tester inserted into the middle comes out clean. Allow to cool 10 minutes.
5. Loosen edge of cake with knife before removing side of pan. Cool cake completely; place on a deep serving plate. Use a two prong meat fork or cake tester to pierce surface of cake.
6. Mix together condensed milk, evaporated milk and 1/4 cup of the whipping cream. Discard 1 cup of the measured milk mixture or cover and refrigerate. Pour remaining milk mixture over cake slowly until absorbed. Whip the remaining whipping cream until it thickens and reaches spreading consistency. Frost cake with whipped cream and garnish with cherries.

TRES LECHES #3
 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
 1 teaspoon baking powder
 1/2 cup unsalted butter
 1 cup white sugar
 5 eggs
 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
 2 cups whole milk
 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
 1 (12 fluid ounce) can evaporated milk
 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
 1 cup white sugar
 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour one 9x13 inch baking pan.
2. Sift flour and baking powder together and set aside.
3. Cream butter or margarine and the 1 cup sugar together until fluffy. Add eggs and the 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract; beat well.
4. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture 2 tablespoons at a time; mix until well blended. Pour batter into prepared pan.
5. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 minutes. Pierce cake several times with a fork.
6. Combine the whole milk, condensed milk, and evaporated milk together. Pour over the top of the cooled cake.
7. Whip whipping cream, the remaining 1 cup of the sugar, and the remaining 1 teaspoon vanilla together until thick. Spread over the top of cake. Be sure and keep cake refrigerated, enjoy!

RS Birthday recipes

Coconut Cupcakes and Frosting: (from Jessica Moffat/Brooke Willits)

And in case you loved the breaded chicken....

Chicken recipe: Costco, Panko crusted (I know!)

Chocolate bites

So, I finally decided this recipe is blogworthy. At first, I was hesitant because I've had some sketchy experiences with vegan cooking, but not only did it pass the husband/kid test, but it has no added flour, fat, or sugar!  Let me know what you think!

• 1 1/2 cups walnuts
• pinch sea salt
• 13-14 large Medjool dates, pitted
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tsp vanilla extract (you could also use mint extract or cherry extract, or orange...)

Instructions

1. Place walnuts and salt in a food processor.
2. Process until finely ground.
3. Add remaining ingredients and process until all mixed and uniformly crumbly.
4. With the machine running, add a few drops of water at a time, just until the mass starts to stick together in a big ball. (Better to add too little that too much!)
5. Roll mixture into balls or press into a square pan and cut into squares.
6. Balls can then be rolled in dried coconut, chopped nuts, or cocoa powder if you wish.

Cook'n program on Groupon

I LOVE having my recipe organizer (Cook'n) on the computer. I bought mine retail a few years ago but I saw it for on Groupon yesterday for only $20! (sigh) It makes it easy to find recipes, calculate nutrition, create menu plans and shopping lists, email recipes and more. It's actually created by someone who lives in Alpine, too, so I should probably look into getting a kickback for advertising his great product. Just thought you should know...

Favorite Easter recipes?

I am sadly lacking in this area. Please post your favorite Easter recipes, along with any fun memories or related traditions.

Hard boiled eggs

This is my new favorite way to make hard boiled eggs...in the OVEN! (from Pinterest)

 Place the eggs in a muffin tray so they do not move around, turn the oven to 325 degrees, pop in for about 25-30 minutes and remove! Not only are they tastier, but they also are much easier to peel!

Happy St Patrick's Day

To celebrate St. Patrick's, I was trying to think of a green recipe I could post. Although this has only a slight green tint, it's AWESOME--especially in the summer.

Brazilian Lemonade (Our Best Bites)
Ingredients:
4 juicy limes (try and find ones with thin, smooth skins; they’re the juiciest and the thin skin cuts down on the chance of your drink being bitter)
1 c. sugar
6 c. cold water
6 Tbsp. sweetened condensed milk

Instructions:
Mix cold water and sugar very well and chill until ready to use. This step can be done ahead of time.
Wash limes thoroughly with soap (I just use hand-dishwashing soap or regular hand soap); you need the soap to get the wax and pesticides off of the limes because you’re using the WHOLE lime, baby. Cut the ends off the limes and then cut each lime into 8ths. Place 1/2 of the limes in your blender.
Add 1/2 of the sugar water, place the lid on your blender, and pulse 5 times. Place a fine-mesh strainer over a pitcher (the one you’ll serve the lemonade in) and pour the blended mixture through the strainer and into the pitcher. Use a spoon to press the rest of the liquid into the pitcher. Dump the pulp and stuff in the strainer into the trash. Repeat with remaining limes and sugar water. Add sweetened condensed milk; DO NOT leave this step out unless you will die of a horrible sweetened condensed milk allergy because this is the secret ingredient! You may want to taste test it at this point; I used giant, thick-skinned limes tonight and didn’t test it and it came out a little bitter. If it’s bitter, just add some more sugar and maybe a little more milk.
Serve immediately over lots of ice. This does not keep well, so don’t make this in advance (although you can cut the limes, mix the sugar water, and measure the sweetened condensed milk in advance). Serves 4, although I can pretty much guarantee you that people will want more; I usually plan on 1 1/2 servings at LEAST per person.