Cookbook author and blogger Sallie Swor featured two recipes - Mom's Strawberry Cake and Just Like Ireland's Fudge Pie. (see recipes below) You can find the cake, the fudge pie she showed and more of Sallie's recipes on her blog www.thedeerone.com. Sallie’s new cookbook "You're Grown - Now You Can Throw a Party" is available at several local bookstores and at www.amazon.com.
Mom's Strawberry Cake
1 box white cake mix
3 oz pkg strawberry jello
3 eggs
½ c oil (I used canola)
½ c water
10-oz pkg frozen strawberries - defrosted, reserve liquid!
For Icing:
3½ c confectioners sugar
8 Tbsp (1 stick) butter, softened
Reserved juice from strawberries
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Defrost strawberries in a sieve or colander placed over a bowl to reserve the juice.
Cut or mash the strawberries into smaller pieces, again reserving any juice.
In a large bowl, combine cake mix, jello, eggs, oil and water.
Mix at medium speed or by hand for about 2 minutes to thoroughly combine.
Gently stir in strawberries.
Spray one 10 to 12-inch heart shaped pan or two 8-inch round cake pans with baking spray.
Pour batter in pan(s).
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes.
Let cool completely before icing.
To make icing:
In a mixing bowl combine sugar, and butter and mix in 3 to 4 Tbsp strawberry juice. If the icing isn't a spreadable consistency add more strawberry juice or milk 1 Tbsp at a time until desired consistency.
Sallie’s Fudge Pie (Almost Ireland’s)
1 stick butter
2 oz of unsweetened baking chocolate
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
¼ cup flour
1 tsp vanilla
Pinch of salt
Piecrust (hint: It’s fine to get the frozen ones in aluminum pans, but the piecrusts that you unroll and place in the pan are better and no more trouble if you own a pie pan. Find them with biscuits and cookie dough in the grocery store. Or make your own.)
Directions
In a double boiler over medium-high heat, melt butter and chocolate. (hint: You can invent a double boiler by putting a small saucepan in a larger one that is filled about 1/3 of the way up with water.)
Remove from heat to cool slightly.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix sugar and eggs together.
Add a little of the melted chocolate mixture to the egg mixture and stir together. (You do this to keep from having chocolate scrambled eggs, which happens if you add the eggs to the hot chocolate.)
Add all of egg mixture to the chocolate and stir to combine.
Mix in flour, vanilla and a pinch of salt.
Pour into piecrust and bake for about 30 minutes, until set.
Serves 6 to 8
