Young Grasshopper's Featured Five :)

What have YOU been up to this week?

I've been keeping an eye on things....

and here's my FEATURED FIVE

 just in time for the weekend!


how do you like my new  "Featured 5" pic? feel free to add to your awards page.... Kelly at Eat Yourself Skinny in all of her awesomeness created it for me :)

Laura at Wylde Thyme celebrated National Grilled Cheese a little late with an insane Loaded Baked Potato Grilled Cheese which got on my list early in the week... and then pulled my heart strings later with her Just Like Grandma's Potato Salad that looked just like Ruthie's!  YUM!  I couldn't pick so they both made the list!

Moo at Moo's Pantry posted

 a most very amazing

 coconut cake that David

 is DYING for me to try! 

 Great blog to check out!

Jenn at the Home Skillet dreamed

up some Pulled Pork Sliders with Jicama Slaw 

on my favorite King's Hawaiian rolls

while sitting in her dentist chair.....

I am dreaming of these sliders all day

every day since I saw them....

time to get cookin'!

For probably the 100th time since reading her blog Deb at Smitten Kitchen make me gasp Shut. The. Front. Door. with her Banana Bread Crepe Cake with Butterscotch. 

I don't know what else I can say.

And my "one for good luck" goes to The Chef in Me (Michael Chang) and his Chilled Yuzu (Japanese citrus) cream soup with raspberry red wine reduction sauce. Served with cinnamon puff stick.... craziness if this was his dessert at home!

While I have your attention, I wanted to take a quick minute to thank the following Bloggers for their generous Recipe contributions to Courtney's Girl Scout Project! 

WOOT WOOT!

Alex at Life, Liberty &
The Pursuit of Foodiness

Cindy at Traveling in the
WriteLane

Urvashi at Go Bake Yourself

 p.s. there's still time to send your recipes in!

****ALL PHOTO CREDITS TO THE POST REFERENCED,

HUGE Thank you to all for letting me repost****

Davey's Favorite Cake {Orange Icebox Cake Recipe}

This recipe is for my husband's favorite cake in the whole wide world.... his Grandma always made it for her "Davey" and I remember my first taste of it was at our engagement party, it was a sheet cake that Grandma made and every time we visited Jersey after that an orange cake "appeared".  In the early years it never would've occurred to me to ask for the recipe and make THE Orange Cake, probably because I was too bust screwing up Rice-a-Roni and the like.  But then some years ago Grandma shared the recipe and I've made it ever since.  I initially made it in a 9 x 13 because that's how I thought it was supposed to be but I've learned since it was meant for a bundt pan.  I use this old heavy plastic one my Mom gave me when she was purging stuff once and it works like a charm.... and it's a great cake that is perfect for a casual hot afternoon barbecue or fancy enough for a tea party or ......an Easter Brunch :)

It's not time consuming to put together BUT it is night before.....  TIP:  Enjoy this recipe for what it is, EASY.  I have made my own angel food cake to make this "from scratch" but I decided long ago that's a waste of resources.... buy an angel food cake from the bakery at your grocery store.  It will be so lovely.

You Can Eat Anything You Want.... but NOT THAT! {Low Everything & Something Free Chocolate Cake Recipe}

On our You Can Eat Anything You Want.... but NOT THAT Diet {as we like to call it} they offered up a diet "brownie" recipe made with ingredients that had to be imported from Mars.... my Gluten Free, Vegan, Health Conscious, Nutritionist friends out there are cringing I'm sure.... but this is new ground in Chez Webb.... We have an altar of butter we bow to every morning.... or at least we did until it started to bow under the pressure of our weight.  So, we are trying.  And what looked like the PERFECT diet is day by day removing any semblance of our former eating "style" but alas some changes needed to be made.  Now, don't get me wrong.... this isn't going to become Heidi's Diet Blog.  But, if I find a few yummy "diet" foods along the way, I will share them.  And I may tweak a few of my tried & true to see how the fare with no butter for instance.... so, don't get skerred.  I'm still here.  Anyhow, the "brownie" was NOT a brownie but it is pretty yummy cake :)


"Fat Loss" Chocolate Cake

Red Velvet Mile High Cake with White Chocolate Butter Cream Icing {Happy Valentine's Day}

Let me start off by saying, I'm NO Baker BUT because there is no bounds to my love of my chocoholic family.... I decided to GO BIG with my Valentine's Confection and it is a recipe that I hope will go down as one of my not-so-secret FAMOUS family recipes....  Heidi's Mile High Red Velvet Cake!

 Here's what you NEED:
3 c. all-purpose flour
1 c. unsweetened Hersey's cocoa powder
2 & 1/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1 & 1/2 c. butter, softened
1 & 1/2 c packed brown sugar
1 & 1/4 c sugar
6 large eggs at room temperature
3 oz milk chocolate chips, melted 
2 & 1/4 tsp MADAGASGAR vanilla
2 & 1/4 c well-shaken buttermilk
3 oz. [3 small bottles] red food coloring

First, Preheat oven to 350°F. 
Spray 3 -9 inch round cake pans with Pam and line 
bottom of each with a round of wax paper.
Spray paper and dust pans with flour, knocking out excess.  NOTE:  This may be stating the obvious but it took me a while to start doing it this way, so I'm sharing..... set the pan on the wax paper and gently trace with open scissor and it'll sorta perforate it so you can tear a perfect sized insert!

Mix together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl, set aside. Beat together butter and sugars in a large bowl using an electric mixer at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after adding each one. Add melted chocolate [which I melted in microwave a minute at a time, this small amount took 2 minutes on high, stirring mid way], madgasgar vanilla and red food coloring [be CAREFUL, it'll git ya if you're not] and beat until just combined. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture and buttermilk alternately in a few batches, beginning with flour mixture and mixing until just combined.
Divide batter between cake pans, spreading evenly, and bake until a tooth pick inserted in center of each cake layer comes out clean, about 30 minutes.

Cool cake layers in pans on racks at least 10 minutes [I've left in for a while with no harm]. Run a knife around edge of each layer, then invert onto racks. Peel off paper and cool layers completely.
Make your butter cream once cakes completely cooled [I made my cakes last night and wrapped tightly in Saran wrap overnight on the counter].


HUGE shout out to Tara at Smells Like Home for this To. Die. For. butter cream recipe [which I have doubled here for our purposes]...

White Chocolate Buttercream Frosting:

2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

4 & 1/2-5 cups powdered sugar added 1/2 cup at a time

2 tsp pure MADAGASCAR vanilla extract

8 oz good-quality white chocolate, melted – I used Ghirardelli

4 tbsp heavy cream

To make the frosting:

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter until soft and fluffy then beat in the vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add in powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time; allow the sugar to mix in before adding the next 1/2 cup. Once all of the sugar has been added, beat on medium speed for 30 seconds and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add in the melted white chocolate and beat on medium speed until incorporated. With the mixer on low, add in heavy cream 1 tbsp at a time and beat at medium speed until the frosting has reached your desired consistency.

Now to frost.... Halve each cake 

layer horizontally using a long 

serrated knife [bread knife]. 

Layer cake, using a heaping 1/2 cup frosting between each layer, then frost top and sides with a LIGHT coat, it will get very crumbly, fret not this is our "under coat".  Once undercoat on put in fridge for 20 minutes THEN ice outside with remaining frosting.

p.s. leave out the food coloring for a kick a$$ chocolate cake ANY day of the year