Church Lady Strawberry Cake

Sorry for the messy picture but I forgot to snap one before everyone dug in. I call this Church Lady Strawberry Cake because I think it is in most every church fund raiser cookbook I own. Another birthday at work and the birthday girl said she liked strawberry so I brought this.

CHURCH LADY STRAWBERRY CAKE

1 package white cake mix
1 package (3 ounces) strawberry Jello
1/2 cup oil
4 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup mashed strawberries with juice

Strawberry Icing
3 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 pound confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup mashed strawberries with juice
1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine cake mix and dry Jello in a large bowl. Beat in oil, eggs, water, vanilla and strawberries. Pour into 9 x 13 pan sprayed with Pam. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool and frost with strawberry icing.

For icing, beat the cream cheese and confectioners sugar together until smooth. Add strawberries and juice and vanilla until creamy. Frost top and sides of cake.

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake

A birthday in August for a coworker and I thought I'd try my hand at a chocolate chip cheesecake. My first time trying one and it was pretty good. This one doesn't rise really high and is a pretty dense cheesecake. It reminds me a little of the cheesecakes you buy at Sam's or Costco.

CHOCOLATE CHIP CHEESECAKE

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/3 cup white sugar
1/3 cup butter, melted
3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
3 eggs
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 teaspoon all-purpose flour


Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Mix graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter. Press onto bottom and up the sides of a 9 inch springform pan. Set crust aside.

Beat cream cheese until smooth. Gradually add sweetened condensed milk. Beat well. Add vanilla and eggs, and beat on medium speed until smooth. Toss 1/3 of the miniature chocolate chips with the 1 teaspoon flour to coat (this keeps them from sinking to the bottom of the cake). Mix into cheese mixture. Pour into prepared crust. Sprinkle top with remaining chocolate chips.
Bake at 300 degrees for 1 hour. Turn off oven (do not open oven door) and leave the cake in the oven to cool in the oven for another hour. Remove from oven and cool completely. Refrigerate before removing sides of pan. Keep cake refrigerated until time to serve.

Banana Bars

I needed a dessert recently and had some ripe bananas to put to use. I found this recipe on a 'Best Ever Cookie Collection' site. I love a quick recipe that doesn't even require a mixer.

BANANA BARS

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup mashed bananas (2 to 3 very ripe medium-sized bananas)
2 large eggs
1/2 cup oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup toasted chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 x 13 pan with Pam. In a large mixing bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Add the bananas , vanilla and pecans. Stir until well blended. Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan, spreading it out evenly. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and place the pan on a wire rack to cool completely. Once cooled you can sprinkle with powdered sugar. I just made a quick cream cheese frosting for them.