Cream Cheese Pound Cake

During the summer, one of my favorite desserts to eat is Strawberry Shortcake. I love love love it! However, I can't stand those greasy pound cakes that you buy at the grocery store. My favorite way to have strawberry shortcake is either with yummy fluffy biscuits, or this delicious pound cake. This pound cake is so moist and delicious, with a perfect crunchy top crust. I started making it to enjoy with strawberry shortcake, but I now often make it just to eat by itself! Although if you are looking for a low calorie treat, this is definitely not it!

Ingredients:
1 package (8 oz) cream cheese
1 1/2 cups butter
3 cups sugar
6 eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (160 degrees C) grease and flour a 10 inch tube pan (I like to use two loaf pans sometimes, too).
2. In a large bowl, cream butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add sugar gradually and beat until fluffy.
3. Add eggs two at a time, beating well with each addition. Add the flour all at once and mix in. Add vanilla.
4. Pour into a 10 inch tube pan. Bake at 325 degrees F (160 degrees C) for 1 hour and 20 minutes. Check for doneness at 1 hour. A toothpick inserted into center of cake will come out clean.

Tips for the best pound cake:

1. Make sure ALL your ingredients are at room temperature when you start.
   
2. When you add the sugar to the creamed butter and cream cheese mixture, add it very slowly. I usually put the sugar in a liquid measuring cup with a pour spout, and pour it into the mixture very slowly as it is mixing.
   
3. When I use the loaf pan, I like to put a piece of wax paper in the bottom, to prevent it from sticking. When the pound cake is cool, it peels right off
   
4. When checking the pound cake for readiness, insert a toothpick into the center. It must come out completely clean. If it is "almost clean" and you're not quite sure, leave it in for a few more minutes, or it will be doughy in the middle.
   

White Chocolate Cranberry Blondies

My husband is not a big fan of chocolate, but he loves white chocolate. So when my friends and I got together for our monthly bake-fest, where the theme was "brownies" we decided to do one that wasn't chocolate, but white chocolate instead. I found this recipe in my Taste of Home - Fall Baking magazine. Even though it would be great for fall, it was also perfect for Valentine's Day because of the colors. It is a dense, moist, and chewy brownie, with great white chocolate flavor, and a hint of tanginess from the cranberries. Yum!

White chocolate Cranberry Blondies

3/4 cup butter, cubed
1-1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
2 eggs
3/4 tsp vanilla extract
2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup dried cranberries
6 ounces white baking chocolate, coarsely chopped (I used white chocolate chips)

Frosting:
1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon grated orange peel, optional
6 ounces white baking chocolate melted
1/2 cup dried cranberries, chopped

Directions:
1. In a microwave, melt butter; stir in brown sugar. Transfer to a large bowl; cool to room temperature. Beat in the eggs and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon; gradually add to butter mixture. Stir in cranberries and chopped chocolate (batter will be thick).
2. Spread into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees F for 18-21 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean (do not overbake). Cool on a wire rack.
3. For the frosting, in a large bowl, beat the cream cheese, confectioners' sugar, and the orange peel if desired until blended. Gradually add half of the melted white chocolate; beat until blended. Frost brownies. Sprinkle with cranberries. Drizzle with remaining melted white chocolate. Cut into bars. Store in the refrigerator.

Scrumptiously Soft Sugar Cookies

This is my new favorite recipe for sugar cookies. They are so deliciously soft. I like to keep them fairly thick when I roll them out, and they turn out tasting like those huge sugar cookies that you see at every store with half inch of frosting on them, only these ones are homemade and much better! My husband likes the cookies by themselves, without the frosting, so I usually end up leaving a few un-frosted for him.

Soft sugar cookies

4 C All purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 C butter, softened
1 1/2 C white sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 C sour cream

1. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon; set aside. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg, vanilla, and sour cream until well blended. Stir in the sifted ingredients. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill, for at least 1 hour, but preferably overnight.
2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/4 inch in thickness. Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. Place cookies 1 1/2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake for 7-9 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.


Sugar Cookie Icing

2 C confectioners sugar
4 tsp milk
4 tsp light corn syrup
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Assorted food coloring

1. In a small bowl, stir together confectioner's sugar and milk until smooth. Beat in corn syrup and vanilla extract until icing is smooth and glossy. If icing is too thick, add more corn syrup. (Make sure to get in the corn syrup, or your icing will get hard and crunchy. The corn syrup keeps the icing soft.)
2. Divide into separate bowls, and add food colorings to each to desired intensity. Dip cookies, or drizzle frosting over cookies, or paint the frosting on with a brush.