Joanne Fluke's Lake Eden Cookbook Part 21

1 cup semi-sweet mini chocolate morsels26 (6-counce

package - I used Nestles)

Grease and flour a Bundt pan. (I sprayed mine with Pam and then floured it. You can also use baking spray, which already contains flour and eliminates one step.) Hannah's 1st Note: You can make this cake without an electric mixer if you have a strong arm and determination, but it's a lot easier if you use one.

Dump the dry yellow cake mix in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the orange Jell-O powder. Add the orange juice, orange extract, vegetable oil, and the orange zest (if you decided to use it). Mix all the ingredients together until they are well blended.

Add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition.

Beat 2 minutes on medium speed with an electric mixer or 3 minutes by hand.

Fold in the mini chocolate morsels by hand.

Pour the cake batter into the Bundt pan.

Bake at 350 degrees F. for 45 to 55 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out dry.

Cool on a rack for 20 to 25 minutes. Loosen the outside edges and the middle, and tip the cake out of the pan. Let the cake cool completely on the rack.

When the cake is cool, drizzle Orange-Fudge Frosting over the crest and let it run down the sides. (Or, if you don't feel like making a glaze, just let the cake cool completely and dust it with confectioner's sugar.) ORANGE-FUDGE FROSTING:.

2 Tablespoons chilled b.u.t.ter ( stick, cup)

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (6-ounce bag)

1 teaspoon orange extract

2 Tablespoons refrigerated orange juice

Place the b.u.t.ter in the bottom of a 2-cup microwave-safe bowl. (I used a gla.s.s one-pint measuring cup.) Add the chocolate chips. Heat on HIGH for 60 seconds.

Stir to see if the chips are melted. (They tend to maintain their shape even when melted, so you can't tell by just looking.) If they're not melted and can't be stirred smooth, heat them on HIGH at 15-second intervals until they are, stirring to check after each 15-second interval.

Add the orange extract and stir it in.

Add the orange juice Tablespoon by Tablespoon, stirring after each addition.

Pour the frosting over the ridge of the cake, letting it run partway down the sides. It will be thicker on top. That's fine. (And if it's not, that's fine, too you really can't go wrong with this cake.) Refrigerate the cake for at least 20 minutes without covering it. That "sets" the frosting. After that, the cake can be left out at room temperature if you wish.

Hannah's 2nd Note: When I bake this cake for Mother, I use both the orange extract and the orange zest. Mother adores the combination of orange and chocolate. Come to think of it, Mother adores ANY combination that includes chocolate.

LISA'S WEDDING COOKIE CAKE This cake must be refrigerated to set up make it the night BEFORE you plan to serve it.

4-quart bowl

2 one-pound packages of graham crackers

8 small packages of chocolate pudding mix27

10 cups (2 and quarts) whole milk (or half and half if

you want to splurge)

Sweetened whipped cream for frosting and topping Line the inside of your bowl with long strips of plastic wrap, leaving enough wrap to fold back over the top when your cake is finished.

Cover the bottom of the bowl with graham crackers, all the way out to the sides. You can break them in half or even in quarters if you want, but it's also okay just to overlap them. (Unlike a jigsaw puzzle, it doesn't matter if some pieces don't fit together exactly.) Make the first two packages of pudding using 2 and CUPS OF MILK, not the 4 cups called for in the directions on the box.

Pour approximately a third of the pudding over the layer of graham crackers in your bowl. Gently spread it out with a rubber spatula. (It doesn't have to be perfectly smooth, just not wildly uneven, that's all.) Put another layer of graham crackers on top of the pudding in the bowl. (Again, it doesn't have to be perfect the pudding will soak into the graham crackers and all will be forgiven.) Put half of the remaining pudding on top of the second layer of graham crackers. Spread it out so it covers them.

Lay down another layer of graham crackers and top it with the remaining pudding. Spread out the pudding and lay down another layer of graham crackers. (Don't bother to wash out the bowl or pan you used to make your pudding. You're just going to make another batch.) Using another 2 packages of pudding and another 2 and cups of milk, make your second batch of pudding.

There are more graham crackers to cover now, since the bowl is wider. Use half of the pudding to cover the graham crackers. Smooth the pudding with your rubber spatula, lay down another layer of graham crackers, cover it with the remaining pudding, and top it with another layer of graham crackers. (I'll bet you're already guessing what the rest of the cake will be like!) Make the third batch of pudding using 2 packages of mix and 2 and cups of milk. Put half on top of the graham crackers in your bowl, spread it out, and top it with more graham crackers. Now use the rest of the pudding and top it again with graham crackers.

One more time! Make the final batch of pudding using 2 packages of pudding mix and 2 and cups of milk. Spread half the pudding over the graham crackers, smooth it, and cover it with more graham crackers. Put on the rest of the pudding, smooth it and this time cover it with a DOUBLE LAYER OF GRAHAM CRACKERS.

(Wasn't that easy? Even if you don't bake, you can make this cake.) Fold in the edges of the plastic wrap to cover the contents of your bowl. Find a plate that will fit inside the bowl on top of the cake. Put it in right side up so that it'll push the cake down when it settles. Set a weight on top of the plate. I use a can of fruit.

Refrigerate the cake until time to serve.

When you're ready to serve, remove the weight and the plate, peel back the plastic wrap, and center a serving platter, right side down, over the top of the bowl. Invert the bowl, lift it off, and peel off the plastic wrap.

Frost your cake with sweetened whipped cream. (Hannah whips her own cream, but you can use the kind in the can if it's easier for you.) Slice the cake as you would a pie, in wedge-shaped pieces. Everyone will ooh and ahh when you do. Pa.s.s a dish of sweetened whipped cream for those who want more, and enjoy!

RHUBARB CUSTARD CAKE.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F., rack in the center position.

1 package (1 lb., 2.25 oz.) lemon cake mix

3 to 4 cups peeled, cut up rhubarb28

1 cup white (granulated) sugar

2 cups whipping cream or half and half (I use half and half)

sweetened whipped cream for a topping Prepare the inside of a 9-inch by 13-inch cake pan by spraying the bottom and sides with nonstick cooking spray and then dusting it with flour. Shake off excess flour. (You can also use baking spray, which has flour in it.) Mix the cake according to the package directions.

Pour the batter into the pan you prepared.

Spread out the rhubarb on top of the batter.

Sprinkle the top of the fruit with the sugar.

Cover the sugar with the cream or half and half.

Bake at 350 degrees F. for 45 to 60 minutes. (Mine took 50 minutes.) This cake won't "set up" exactly like a regular cake the fruit and custard will sink to the bottom and will have the consistency of a thick pudding, or a trifle. The top half of the cake will be like a regular cake.

Cool the cake completely in the pan. Cut it into squares, put them in wide dessert bowls and top each serving with a generous dollop of sweetened whipped cream, or ice cream.

This pudding cake is good served warm, room temperature, or chilled.

SALLY'S FLOURLESS CHOCOLATE CAKE Preheat oven to 375 degrees F., rack in the middle position.

Hannah's Note: This cake is going to fall in the center. There's just no way around it since there's no flour to hold it up. That really doesn't matter, because it's so delicious. Just be prepared to cover up the crater in the middle with plenty of whipped cream Sally whips two cups of cream sweetened with cup of powdered sugar, spreads it on the top, and shaves some bittersweet chocolate on top of that.

1 stick ( cup b.u.t.ter, pound)

8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips (1 and cups

I used Ghirardelli)

4 egg yolks (save the whites in a separate bowl for later)

cup white (granulated) sugar

teaspoon rum extract (or vanilla if you don't have rum)