Saturday, January 27, 2024

Tres Leches Cake

Tres Leches Cake























If you’ve never had this cake, you just have to try it. It's almost too light and airy to be called cake. Tres Leches Cake (meaning: three milks) is a melt-in-your-mouth sweet sponge cake soaked with a mixture of three milks: evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, and heavy cream.  While I make the “from scratch” version now and then, I find using a store bought cake mix is just as good and saves so much time.  This is a keeper my friends! 

Tres Leches Cake

1 box French Vanilla cake mix (any brand) 
4 eggs
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 ¼ cups water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 13 x 9 baking dish with parchment paper and then spray with non stick cooking spray and set aside.  

In a large bowl, combine the cake mix, eggs, oil and water with a handheld electric mixer on low speed. Beat for 2 minutes or until combined. Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish, and bake for approx. 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean or with moist crumbs.  Let cake cool for at least 5 minutes and then using a fork, poke holes all over the top.

















Sauce

1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (12 oz) can evaporated milk
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

In a separate bowl, whisk together the sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk and the heavy whipping cream until combined. 




















Slowly drizzle the milk mixture over the cake trying to get as much into the holes and around the edges as possible.  The milk mixture will pool around the edges of the cake but that’s okay.  

Refrigerate and allow the cake to absorb the milk mixture for at least an hour or longer.




















Topping

2 cups heavy cream
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp pure vanilla
Fresh sliced strawberries and cinnamon , for garnish

Using a mixer, whip the cup of heavy whipping cream, with the sugar and a teaspoon of vanilla on very high speed until stiff peaks form. 






Frost the top of the cake, add a sprinkle of cinnamon and then cut into squares.  I like to pipe on my topping but you can decorate anyway you like.














Garnish with strawberries if desired.















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Strawberry Shortcake Biscuits


























When I was growing up, we always had homemade biscuits in the breadbox that sat on the kitchen counter.  I can remember always waking up to the wonderful smell of my Mom's homemade buttermilk biscuits. We had them for breakfast with lots of butter and jam or with creamy sausage gravy.  Sometimes she would make a dessert using leftover biscuits from that morning and this is exactly how they looked!

Strawberry Shortcake Biscuits


Strawberries

1 quart strawberries, sliced
1/4 cup sugar
Biscuits

3 tablespoons sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons butter, cold and cubed
2/3 cup half-and-half
8 teaspoons of sugar for biscuit tops
1/4 cup half and half for  biscuit tops
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a bowl, toss the strawberries and 1/4 cup sugar together and then set aside.  Blend together the flour, baking powder, salt and 3 tablespoons of sugar. With a pastry blender, cut in the cold butter until a coarse meal is formed. Transfer the dough mixture into a large mixing bowl and make a well in the center.

Pour in 2/3 cup half-and-half and gently  mix it with a fork, being careful not to over mix or the biscuits will be tough.  Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and fold it over itself a couple of times until it just holds together. Pat the dough out to 3/4-inch thickness and cut out 8 round 3-inch biscuits. Transfer the biscuits to a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Brush the tops of each biscuit with the 1/4 of half-and-half and sprinkle each with 1 teaspoon sugar.

Bake in a preheated oven for 12 to 15 minutes or until the biscuits have risen and are a light golden brown.  Remove from the oven and let cool slightly.






























For the whipped cream


1 cup chilled heavy cream
1/4 cup sour cream
3 Tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
In the bowl of a mixer, whisk the heavy cream, sour cream, sugar and vanilla extract on high speed until soft peaks form.  Assemble the shortcakes by slicing  biscuits in half and adding some whipped cream. Then add the strawberries topping them with more whipped cream.  Add the top of the biscuit and add a dollop of whipped cream on top and garnish with a single strawberry.

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Friday, January 26, 2024

Strawberry Bread with Vanilla Icing


















How good does it get?  Easy to make and out of this world good!

Strawberry Bread with Vanilla Icing

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
4 ounces cream cheese, softened...
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/2 cup buttermilk

2 cups strawberries, rinse, dried and chopped. Grease and flour a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan. With electric mixer cream butter, sugar and cream cheese until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time. Mix in vanilla.

In separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Blend flour mixture with butter mixture just until blended. Add buttermilk and only stir until just combined; do not over mix.

Carefully fold in strawberries. Dough mixture will be thick. Bake in a 350 degrees oven for 50 to 60 minutes.              
                                         




















For the Glaze:     

4 tablespoons melted butter
2 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons milk
¼ tsp vanilla extract

Combine the powdered sugar, vanilla, and butter. Slowly add milk, stirring until smooth. Extra milk can be added to thin if desired...I like mine nice and thick.

NOTE: I have used raspberries, blueberries, blackberries and even peaches for this bread recipe.

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Wednesday, January 24, 2024

Chicken Salad With Grapes and Walnuts


 

 

 

 








 

 

Whenever I have leftover chicken I like to make chicken salad.  Sometimes I will cut up some chicken tenders and quick fry them if I don’t have any leftover chicken.  That is what I did with this recipe and it turned out so good.  I don’t like the recipes that call for shredded chicken. I like my chicken salad chunky with lots of texture.  I serve this on a bed of lettuce as a salad or make my delicious sandwich on a toasted buttery croissant!  OH MY GOSH this is so good!

 

 

Chicken Salad With Grapes and Walnuts

 

2 cups cooked chicken, diced

½ - 2/3 cup mayonnaise

½ cup chopped celery

½ cup grapes halved

½ granny smith apple, diced

½ Gala apple, diced

1/3 cup walnuts chopped

½ cup dried cranberries (cran-raisins work here)

¼ cup green onion, sliced thin or diced

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Salt and Pepper to taste


 

Add the chicken, celery, grapes, apples, walnuts, onion, parsley, cranberries, to a bowl.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Add  in 1/2 cup of mayonnaise and toss so that everything is well coated.  Add additional mayonnaise if you'd like a wetter consistency. Salt and pepper to taste.  







 

 

 

 

  


Store covered in the fridge for 1 hour to allow the flavors to meld before serving.

 Chicken Salad on Croissant

 4 large croissants, warmed or toasted

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Slice your croissants with a long sharp serrated knife.  I like to split down the back so the ends are included in the slicing. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Toast in the oven until lightly browned and crisp.



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Divide chicken salad evenly between 4 croissants and top with other half of croissant.




 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Photography is the property of and copyrighted to Welcome Home. 
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Sunday, January 21, 2024

MY COUNTRY HOME EBOOK

 










 

My Country Home....was the 7th cookbook in the Welcome Home Series. As a special sale price you can get this and more of my E-books for only $7.99 while supplies last. This price won't last long, so hurry and click on the link to order yours today.

In this, the seventh cookbook of the Welcome Home series, you will find some of the best southern classics from my Mom's country recipe collection. These are the classics I grew up with and every single one of them takes me back in time.


I purposely chose the quick and easy to make recipes with wholesome ingredients you usually have on hand in your pantry and refrigerator. I feature recipes like her Sausage Gravy and Buttermilk Biscuits, Country Fried Steak with Milk Gravy, Southern Fried Chicken and Cornbread, Her Creamy, Cheesy Mac and Cheese, and her Oven Roasted Pot Roast with thick, rich gravy, and her Southern Greens with Bacon. 
















And let's not forget her Southern Peach Bundt Cake and her Perfect Devils Food Chocolate Cake! Over 100 pages of goodness! And each recipes is proceeded with a bright and colorful full page photograph!

















To purchase your E-Book at the special price of only $7.99, click here:

Then download it to your desktop, Android phone, Tablet, or iPhone and iPad.
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