Strawberry and Mint Shortcake with Dream Whip Cream

I had some delicious strawberries in the fridge that I wanted to create a dessert with, but didn't want to run out to the store. So, after a few searches online and in my kitchen and garden I decided on a strawberry and mint shortcake with Dream Whip cream topping. I didn't have any whipped or heavy cream so had to make my own (see recipe below for both).

Ingredients:
3 cups of strawberries, rinsed, hulled, and sliced
1/2 cups of sugar
1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon of salt
6 tablespoons of cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 cup of heavy cream (recipe below)
1 large egg
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a medium tupperware bowl, toss strawberries with 1/4 cup sugar; let sit to bring out their juices.

In a food processor, pulse flour, baking powder, 1/4 cup sugar, and the salt until combined. Add butter, and pulse 12 times. In a medium bowl, whisk together 1/4 cup cream (tablespoon of melted butter cooled and combined with 1/4 cup milk) and the egg; pour over flour mixture, and pulse until clumps begin to form, 30 times.

Using a 1/3-cup measuring cup, pack dough, invert, and then tap out onto a baking sheet. Repeat to form around five biscuits. Bake until lightly golden, about 25-30 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool, about 15 minutes.

Beat remaining 1 envelop of Dream Whip with 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract and 1/2 cup of cold milk with a hand mixer for five minutes. Transfer to a tupperware bowl to cool in fridge (makes around two cups of topping mix).

Slice biscuits in half horizontally. Spoon strawberries and their liquid over bottom halves. Spoon whipped cream on strawberries, and replace top halves of biscuits.

Orange Olive Oil Cake

This is a refreshing and light cake that is perfect with ice cream, sorbet or jam.

INGREDIENTS
2 oranges
2⅓ cups sugar
Unsalted butter, for greasing the pan
2½ cups flour, plus more for pan
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla extract
4 eggs
6 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
¼ cup fresh orange juice
¼ cup confectioners' sugar
Sea salt, for garnish

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Trim about ½" from the tops and bottoms of oranges; quarter oranges lengthwise. Bring 4 cups of water to a boil in a large saucepan for around 15 minutes. Add 1 cup sugar to the saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring often, until sugar dissolves and orange rind can be easily pierced with a fork, about 30 minutes. Remove pan from heat and let cool to room temperature.

2. Heat oven to 350°. Grease a 10" round cake pan with butter and dust with flour; line pan bottom with parchment paper cut to fit. Set pan aside. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and baking soda in a medium bowl and set aside. Remove orange quarters from syrup, remove and discard any seeds, and put oranges into a food processor. Pulse until oranges form a chunky purée, 10 to 12 pulses. Add remaining sugar, reserved flour mixture, vanilla, and eggs and process until incorporated, about 2 minutes. Add olive oil; process until combined. Pour batter into prepared pan; bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 40 minutes. Let cool for 30 minutes.

3. In a small bowl, whisk orange juice and confectioners' sugar to make a thin glaze. Remove cake from pan and transfer to a cake stand or plate. Using a pastry brush, brush orange glaze over top and sides of cake; let cool completely. Garnish cake with salt.

Nutella Cakewiches

I had some Nutella in the house and was craving something sweet, so why not mini cakewiches. You can add anything sweet to your simple cake recipe -- peanut butter, frosting, even ice cream and freeze.

Ingredients:
2 cups of Flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Nutella (spread it on one sponge cake)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Sift together flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder and set aside. Line two large baking pans with parchment paper. Cream the butter and sugar. Add eggs, milk, and vanilla. Beat until well combined. Slowly add dry ingredients and mix until combined.

Using a teaspoon, place a small amount of the mixture onto the lined baking pans, 12 per pan. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Remove to a rack to cool.

Spread Nutella onto each of 12 cookies and then sandwich together with remaining 12 cookies.

Vegetarian Ramen Soup

Fresh vegetables - mushrooms, carrots
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 cups vegetable broth
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 package ramen noodles
1/2 to 1 teaspoon Chinese chili oil or sesame chili oil
Green onions, thinly sliced, for garnishing
Soft boiled egg

Heat the canola oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the mushrooms and carrots and cook until they become soft, about 3-5 minutes. Add the vegetable broth and raise the heat to high.

When the vegetable broth comes to a boil, add the soy sauce and the sesame chili oil or the Chinese chili oil. Add salt, to taste. Finally, add the noodles and continue cooking until the noodles become soft, about 5 minutes. Serve in bowls and garnish with the green onions and soft boiled egg.

Treating Myself