German Chocolate Cake

Caleb wanted a German Chocolate cake for his birthday.  I decided to try a real recipe over a cake mix to see if I would like it better (I didn't--liking cake is such a struggle for me.).  However, it hit the rafters with good reviews from everyone else, so I guess it is a good recipe!  It took me a good 3 hours to make (part of that is too much girlie help, I'm sure) and I dirtied too many dishes, so I'm not sure how much I'll be making it, but it is good to have in my files for future requests.

Original recipe found here.

German Chocolate Cake

• 1/2 cup water
• 4 (1 ounce) squares German sweet chocolate
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 2 cups white sugar
• 4 egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 1/2 cups cake flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 egg whites
•  
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup evaporated milk
• 1/2 cup butter
• 3 egg yolks, beaten
• 1 1/3 cups flaked coconut
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
•  
• 1/2 teaspoon shortening
• 1 (1 ounce) square semisweet chocolate

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour 3 - 9 inch round pans. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside. In a small saucepan, heat water and 4 ounces chocolate until melted. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
2. In a large bowl, cream 1 cup butter and 2 cups sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in 4 egg yolks one at a time. Blend in the melted chocolate mixture and vanilla. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk, mixing just until incorporated.
3. In a large glass or metal mixing bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold 1/3 of the whites into the batter, then quickly fold in remaining whites until no streaks remain.
4. Pour into 3 - 9 inch pans Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then turn out onto wire rack.
5. To make the Filling: In a saucepan combine 1 cup sugar, evaporated milk, 1/2 cup butter, and 3 egg yolks. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly until thickened. Remove from heat. Stir in coconut, pecans and vanilla. Cool until thick enough to spread.
6. Spread filling between layers and on top of cake. In a small saucepan, melt shortening and 1 ounce of chocolate. Stir until smooth and drizzle down the sides of the cake.

Cache's birthday meal--grilled shrimp

This is a favorite of ours and tonight we experienced why once again:

Cilantro Lime Grilled Shrimp

2 cloves garlic

2 TBSP chopped cilantro

zest and juice of 1 lime

1/4 cup oil

1 jalapeño, seeded and minced

salt and pepper to taste

1 1/2 lbs large shrimp

Combine first six ingredients in food processor (or chop finely yourself if your processor is kaput). Marinate shrimp for 30 minutes. Thread on skewers and grill for about 5 minutes. (unless you have a *very* old junky grill like ours then grill them-rotating often for heat distribution-until they turn pink--about 20 mins.)

With this meal we also had white rice, rolls and asparagus with the following recipe.

Baked Asparagus with Balsamic Butter Sauce
1 bunch fresh asparagus, trimmed
cooking spray
salt and pepper to taste
2 TBSP butter
1 TBSP balsamic vinegar
1 tsp soy sauce

Arrange asparagus on baking sheet. Spray with cooking spray and season with salt and pepper.
Bake for 12 minutes at 400 degrees or until tender.

Melt butter in a sauce pan over medium heat. Brown slightly. Remove from heat and stir in vinegar and soy sauce. Pour over asparagus.

Then I served his favorite cake--carrot. We love the yummy recipe found on this post. I've made it WAY too many times!

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Just a note about this meal. . . I accidentally purchased and thawed a package of precooked shrimp ($6.98/2 lb. bag). So Tom ran and got me some thawed, uncooked shrimp; it was quite a bit more pricey at $13.98/2 lbs. When I spend that much on an item for a meal I start calculating the price of the entire meal to make myself feel better. I figured that with the dessert the whole meal, including the price of shrimp, for a family of 7 was $20. Tom and I had eaten out earlier that day at The Lion House (which is considered quite cheap for that type of meal) and the two of us ate for $16. (And it wasn't even very good, I left very dissatisfied that I had spent that much money on not very good food.) Since I can usually feed my family for $4-$10 a meal, this was a more expensive meal--but not that much. It was WAY cheaper than eating out, even if you added the cost of the shrimp I didn't use this meal. (By the way, other plans were made to use the other shrimp.)

Grilled Chicken

Today for Sunday dinner we had Grilled Chicken (rub recipe below), rice, corn on the cob, lettuce salad, rolls and strawberry shortcake. I love a well rounded Sunday meal that everyone loves. This is one of them.

BBQ Rub

1 1/4 cup white sugar

1/2 cup salt

1/4 cup paprika

1 1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup pepper

Stir together. Rub on meats 10 minutes before grilling. Store extra in a sealed container. (I make this about once a year and store it in a ziplock bag in the fridge.) This is great on chicken, pork, beef and fish. It is one of our favorites for shish kabobs.

Dinner Rolls

1 egg

1/2 cup warm water

1/2 cup warm milk

1/4 cup softened butter

1/3 cup sugar

1 tsp salt

4 cups flour

1 TBSP yeast

Put all ingredients into the bread pan. Select dough setting. When complete, melt 1/4 cup (I've been using less lately--still yummy) butter. Cut dough into 2 pieces. Roll into circles one at a time and spread with half of the butter. Cut into 16 wedges. Roll up starting at the wide end. cover with wax paper and let rise for 1-3 hours. Bake at 400 for 10-12 mins.

Strawberry Shortcake

Make white cake mix from the box.

Mix 1/2 of a package of cream cheese with sugar to taste. Start with 1/4 cup or so. After well mixed, add Cool Whip until desired creaminess. Spread on cooled cake.

Make 1 package of Strawberry Junket. Add strawberries. When that cools, spread on the cake. Keep cake refrigerated.