Desperate Craftwives: June 2012

Monday, June 18, 2012

Diet Cherry Coke Cake

My husband and I have been trying to eat healthier these days. When his birthday came around, I was tempted to skip the birthday cake and get a single cupcake from the bakery just to stick a candle in and let the kids split. As you can imagine, this did NOT go over well with the kids. My son reminded me of a Diet Coke cake we had heard about where you just add a can of Diet Coke to a box of cake mix. I happened to have a single can of Diet Cherry Coke and a neighbor with a box of chocolate cake mix, so I agreed to give it a try. And I am glad I did....it was soooooo good!

Ingredients:

12 oz. Can of Diet Cherry Coke
Box of chocolate cake mix (I used Duncan Hines Butter Recipe Fudge)
Cool Whip (smaller container)
Powdered Sugar-1/4 cup
Almond Extract-1/4 tsp

Directions:

Add can of Diet Cherry Coke to boxed cake mix and mix for 2 minutes.
Bake according to directions on box, but start checking it about 5 minutes before time stated because it may cook a bit quicker. Toothpick inserted in center will come out clean when cake is done.
Allow cake to cool completely before frosting.
Using a mixer, beat the thawed Cool Whip with the powdered sugar and almond extract until blended and fluffy.
Frost cake and decorate as desired!

I am not usually a fan of using lower fat substitutions in baked goods in place of oil, eggs, etc. because the texture always seems very sticky and just weird, but I would not have known this cake wasn't made with the usual ingredients.

Apparently you can use any diet soda with any boxed cake mix. Other pairings to consider:

Yellow or white cake mix with diet sprite

White cake mix with diet orange soda

White cake mix with diet root beer

Chocolate cake with Diet Dr. Pepper

Places I'm Partying:

http://www.cherishedbliss.com/

www.mommybydaycrafterbynight.com
www.lilluna.com
www.thenymelrosefamily.com

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Fruit Nachos

My son loves cooking and helping out in the kitchen. He took it upon himself to rip out the recipe page that comes in each of his monthly Highlights magazines and organize them all into a 3-ring binder, creating his own cookbook. This recipe was inspired by a Highlights Fruit Nachos recipe, but we had to change it up a bit based on what we had stocked in our pantry. It looked great and tasted even better!

What You Need:

Lavash or similar thin bread (original recipe called for cinnamon pita chips).
Cinnamon
Sugar
Butter
Milk
Instant French Vanilla Pudding
Fruit (Strawberries, Kiwi, Blueberries, Peaches...your choice!)

How To Make It:

Mix box of instant pudding with 1 3/4 cups milk. Whisk and put in fridge for 10 minutes.
Melt butter and brush onto lavash. Sprinkle generously with cinnamon and sugar.
Using a pizza cutter, cut bread into triangles.
Bake at 350 degrees until crispy and lightly browned (about 8 minutes). Let cool.

Meanwhile, wash and cut fruit.
Arrange cinnamon crisps along outside of plate, spoon pudding into middle, drizzling some over crisps too.
Top with cut up fruit.
Chow down!

It was a beautiful afternoon when we made these, so decided to head out to the backyard for a little fruit nacho picnic.

Apparently this recipe is dog-approved too!

Thanks for checking out my blog! Would love to have you stay and follow along!

Blythe

Places I'm Partying:

http://www.djssugarshack.com/

http://www.thenymelrosefamily.blogspot.com/

http://www.igottacreate.blogspot.com/

http://www.the36thavenue.com/

http://www.theshabbycreekcottage.com/

http://www.livelaughrowe.com/

http://www.oneartmama.blogspot.com/

http://www.tatertotsandjello.com/

http://www.shakentogether.blogspot.com/

http://www.bedifferentactnormal.com/

http://www.iamaddictedtorecipes.blogspot.ca/

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Surfboard Cookies

A friend of mine was throwing a luau-themed pool party for her daughter's birthday. I was very excited because I had a new surfboard cookie cutter (from http://www.cheapcookiecutters.com/) burning a hole in my cupboard just waiting to be used! They turned out awesome and were a huge hit at the party. They looked bright & festive and tasted delicious (so I was told....I'm dieting!).

My "go-to" cookie recipe is The Best Rolled Sugar Cookie, and icing is Sugar Cookie Icing, both found on http://www.allrecipes.com/.

I actually ran out of vanilla extract (gasp!!!) when I got to mixing up my last batch of icing, so used lemon extract instead, and it tasted great too! Plus it was the orange-colored frosting with the lemon/citrus-y flavor, so people thought I did it on purpose. Who am I to burst their bubbles?