Oreo Cream Cheese Cake

Remember how last year for Sam's birthday I made this Peanut Butter Cup Layered Cake? This year I wanted to do the same kind of thing with Oreos. Then I saw a recipe for Oreo Ice Cream Fudge in the Worldwide Ward Cookbook, and I instantly envisioned the fudge sandwiched between the cake layers. This cake takes a little bit of time to put together, but if you make the fudge and the cakes the day before, it will come together fairly quickly.

Do you like my cake stand? I actually don't own one. This is a plastic plate balanced on a mug. :)

For the cake...

Mix together:

2 c. sugar

2 c. flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

Bring to a boil:

2 sticks butter

4 Tbsp. cocoa

1 cup water

Pour over the flour mixture and add:

2 eggs

1 c. buttermilk

1 tsp. vanilla

Liberally grease and flour 2 8-inch round pans. Pour half of the batter into each pan and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

For the fudge filling:

Line an 8-inch round pan with plastic wrap. Crush enough Oreo cookies to cover the bottom of the pan. Melt 3 cups milk chocolate chips in the microwave, stirring every 15-20 seconds. Add 1 c. cookies-and-cream ice cream and stir until incorporated. If needed, stick it back in the microwave for a few seconds to get it all uniformly combined. Pour over the crushed Oreo cookies, and spread a layer of crushed Oreo cookies on top. Store in the freezer until ready to put in the cake.

For the frosting:

Whip until smooth:

2 8 oz. bricks cream cheese

1 stick butter

3-4 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

enough milk to make a good consistency

To assemble:

With a serrated knife, cut the rounded tops off both cakes to level them. Brush off any loose crumbs. Place one cake on a cake plate and spread the top with a thin layer of frosting. Unwrap the fudge and place it on top of the cake. Spread another thin layer of cream cheese frosting on top of the fudge and top with the other cake. Frost the entire cake with frosting and decorate with Oreos in desired design.

Sweet Coconut Sticky Rice with Mango

This is another gem from that little Thai cookbook I got at the Asian Market in Provo. It is normally served as a dessert, but we eat it as a main dish. :) It is so refreshing in the summertime! It is traditionally served warm, but I actually prefer it cold. Either way is tasty! I just recommend not reheating the mangoes, so if you serve it warm you should serve the mangoes on the side rather than combining everything together. Enjoy!

2 1/2 cups uncooked Mahatma jasmine rice (Important! It needs to be Mahatma jasmine rice! It comes in a shiny purple package.)

1 can coconut milk

1 cup sugar

3/4 Tbsp. salt

1 Tbsp. vegetable oil

4 mangoes

Cook the rice according to package directions. Put coconut milk, sugar, salt, and vegetable oil in a saucepan and bring to a boil on medium heat, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat when it boils. Pour the coconut milk mixture over the cooked rice and cover for 10-15 minutes to let it soak into the rice. Chill or serve warm with fresh, diced mango.

Blender Rolls

Most of you family members probably have this recipe, but I decided to post it anyway because I have so many people exclaim over it and ask for the recipe. Mom says they tend to get dried out after a couple of days, but here in Houston we don't have that problem...both because of the humidity and because they usually don't last that long. :)

Blend up:

3 eggs

1 tsp. salt

3/4 c. real butter

1/2 c. sugar

2 Tbsp. yeast

2 c. very warm water

Pour liquid into a bowl containing 5 1/2 cups of flour. Mix well with a fork (it will be very sticky). Let rise until double. Spread 1 cup of flour out on counter and scrape dough onto it. Knead a little (add more flour if needed) and divide in half. Roll dough into a circle about 1/2 inch thick and cut pizza style into 12 pieces. Roll into crescent rolls. Repeat with the other half of the dough and bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes (or until lightly browned) after letting rise a little on pan. Rub butter over the tops immediately after taking them from the oven.

Cream of Mango Soup

I bought some half-and-half on closeout at Kroger the other day and was looking for a recipe to use it in. We love mangoes, so this recipe caught my eye. It has a pretty mild, yet rich taste. It is best eaten very cold and with full-fat half-and-half, although I have used fat-free half-and-half and it still worked out fine. Recipe reviewers suggested omitting the sugar and adding in ginger for a more savory soup, although I haven't tried that option. It would be a nice appetizer for this dish.

Recipe Source: Allrecipes.com

2 mango-peeled, seeded, and cut into chunks

1/4 c. sugar

zest and juice of one lemon

1 1/2 cups half and half

Blend all ingredients until smooth and creamy. Chill thoroughly before serving. Optional: Garnish with fresh strawberries or blueberries.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Muffins

Most of the oatmeal muffin recipes I have tried have left me sorely disappointed. They are overly tough, flat, and often have an oily texture. These muffins are a different story entirely. With only 1/3 cup sugar and 1/4 cup butter per pan, you don't even have to feel too bad about the chocolate chips. They really do taste like an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie!

Original recipe from How Sweet It Is

**Note-the recipe says it makes 12 muffins, but I only get 11 out of it.

1 cup whole wheat or all-purpose flour

1 cup rolled oats

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/3 c. brown sugar

1 egg

1/4 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 c. milk

1 c. chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Add oats to a bowl and add 1/2 c. of the milk. Let soak for 5-10 minuteswhile you prepare the first steps of the muffins. In a large bowl, combine egg and brown sugar and whisk until smooth and caramel in color. Add in vanilla and butter, whisking well. Try to smooth the batter as much as possible-there still may be some small butter chunks. Add flour, oat/milk mixture, baking soda, salt and cinnamon and mix. Add remaining milk and combine until smooth. Fold in chocolate chips. Pour into muffin tins and bake 15-18 minutes or until cooked through. Serve warm! If you're eating a leftover muffin, I highly recommend popping it in the microwave for 15 seconds or so. Yum!

When I broke open the warm muffin and saw this, I knew we had a winner. Talmage readily agreed.

Cinnamon Sugar Pull-Apart Bread

This recipe is kind of time-intensive, but it's not too labor intensive. You just have to plan ahead a little for all the rising/baking time. Like Annie says, it really does taste like that inner part of a cinnamon roll. Yum!

Original recipe from Annie's Eats via Joy the Baker

2 3/4 c. all-purpose flour, plus more as needed

1/4 c. granulated sugar

2 1/4 tsp. yeast

1/2 tsp. salt

4 Tbsp. unsalted butter

1/3 cup whole milk

1/4 cup water

1 tsp. vanilla

2 large eggs

To make the dough, combine the flour, sugar, yeast and salt in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a dough hook (or mix/knead dough with a fork/your hands). Combine the butter and milk in a small saucepan and heat just until the butter is melted. Set aside and let cool briefly until it feels warm but not too uncomfortable to touch (115-125 degrees F). Add the milk mixture, water, vanilla, and eggs to the mixer bowl. Mix on low speed until a cohesive dough forms. Continue to knead until smooth and elastic, adding additional flour as needed until the dough clears the sides of the bowl and is tacky but not sticky. Knead about 3-5 minutes. Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl, turning once to coat, and cover. Let rise until doubled.

While the dough rises, melt 4 Tbsp. unsalted butter in a small saucepan and cook until browned. Set aside. Combine 1 cup sugar, 2 tsp. ground cinnamon, and 1/2 tsp. nutmeg in a small bowl.

When dough has doubled, transfer to a lightly floured surface and gently deflate. Roll into a ball, cover with a towel, and let rest 5 minutes. Roll dough out into an approximate 12x20 inch rectangle. Brush the dough with the browned butter. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture over the top of the butter (it will seem like a lot, but put it all on). Lightly grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan. Slice the dough into rectangles--6 down, 6 across. Stack all the squares on top of each other and put into the prepared loaf pan. Cover loosely with a kitchen towel and let rise 30-45 minutes.

Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes until the top is golden brown and a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. (That's important! The top of mine looked great but the middle was all goo.) Remove from the oven and let rest in the pan 20-30 minutes. Run a knife around the outer edge and turn out onto a plate. Serve warm.

Swiss Bacon Salad with Poppyseed Dressing

This is another one of those BYU cooking class recipes. The original recipe says to marinate 1 1/2 c. thinly sliced mushrooms in the dressing for a while before mixing them into the salad with the dressing, but I still despise mushrooms, so I put in toasted almonds instead. But if mushrooms are your thing, feel free to take that route! It also calls for 1/2 medium red onion, thinly sliced (which I didn't use this time around). This is one of my favorite salads...so yummy.

1 large pkg. spinach, coarsely chopped

3/4 lb. grated Swiss cheese

3/4 lb. cooked and crumbled bacon

1 1/2 cups cottage cheese

3/4 c. toasted almond slivers

Combine salad ingredients in a large bowl. If you have a glass salad bowl, layering the ingredients creates a very pretty effect. I like to spoon the cottage cheese over the spinach, then top with the remaining ingredients and repeat the layers.

Poppy Seed Dressing

1/4 c. sugar

1/2 tsp. dry mustard

3/4 tsp. salt

1 tsp. grated onion (not dry onion. Use actual onion and grate.)

3/4 c. oil

1/4 c. + 2 Tbsp. vinegar

1 1/2 tsp. poppy seeds

Combine all ingredients except oil and poppy seeds. Mix until sugar is dissolved. Slowly whisk in oil and beat well. Stir in poppy seeds. Cover and chill. Start by topping the salad with 2/3 of the dressing mixture and add more as desired.

**Note: this salad needs to be served right away since the dressing and cottage cheese will make the spinach wilt. We ate it with rolls for dinner one night and used it as a main dish, or you could obviously cut the recipe down to make the amount you need.