The Best Frosting EVER

Ingredients:

• 1 C Shortening
• 1 1/2 t Vanilla
• 1/2 t Almond Extract
• 4 1/2 C Powdered Sugar
• 3-4 Tb Milk

Beat shortening, vamilla, and almond extract with electric mixer.  Slowly add 1/2 powdered sugar and 2 Tb Milk.  Mix in remaining powdered sugar and enough milk to make spreadable.  Separate and dye according to desire.

 

Lemon Spritz Cookies aka So-You-Hate-Sugar-Cookies

I have never liked sugar cookies.  I grew up making lemon spritz cookies at Christmas time with a cookie gun.  Recently, I discovered the wonderful versatility of the spritz cookie.  This cookie can replace nasty sugar cookies as one to use cookie cutters with and have fun decorating with frosting and sprinkles!  The only catch is that it is a bit more difficult to roll out.  It’s worth it, though, I promise!  The animal cookies pictured were left white and I only dyed the frosting.  With the watermelon shaped cookies, I dyed the dough green and cut into circles.  After cooking, I dyed the frosting pink and topped with chocolate sprinkles.  (See Recipe: Best Frosting Ever)

Ingredients:

• 1 C Margarine
• 2 3/4 C Flour
• 1/4 t salt
• 2 egg yolks
• 2 t lemon peel
• 3 oz cream cheese
• 1 C sugar

Cream butter with cream cheese (should be like whipped butter).  Gradually add sugar.  Beat in egg yolks, lemon peel, flour, and salt.  Mix thoroughly.  Color with food coloring as desired.  Chill for 1 hr.  Shape using cookie press or rolling out between two sheets of wax paper and using cookie cutters.  Bake at 400 degrees for 7-8 minutes.

 

Carrot Cake

Cake Ingredients:

• 4 eggs
• 1 1/4 C Canola oil
• 2 C white sugar
• 2 t vanilla
• 2 C flour
• 2 t baking soda
• 2 t baking powder
• 1/2 t salt
• 2 t cinnamon
• 3 C grated carrots (I would suggest a food processor but if, like me, you don’t have one you can use the really poky part of the cheese grater–not the shredding part…I actually used my special potato grater that I use for potato pancakes and that gave it a great texture but my hands were orange and raw by the time I was done…oh, and use the fattest carrots you can find to speed up the process)
• 1 C finely chopped pecans

Frosting Ingredients:

• 1 C softened margarine
• 16 oz cream cheese
• 8 C powdered sugar
• 2 t vanilla
• food dye
• 1-2 C finely chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350*F.  Grease and flour two 8 in round pans.  In a large bowl, beat together eggs, oil, white sugar and vanilla.  Mix in baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.  Slowly add flour. Stir in carrots and pecans.  Distribute batter equally between the two pans.  Bake 40-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.  Let cool.  Meanwhile blend margarine, cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla for frosting.  Put aside two small bowlfuls for orange and green frosting and chill the remainder in the refrigerator.  Use food dye to dye one bowlful green and the other bowlful orange.  Place these bowls of frosting in the refrigerator as well.  When cakes have cooled, remove from pans and frost cake generously.  Press remaining pecans into the frosting on the sides of the cake and use orange and green frosting to make carrots (I watched this video from allrecipes.com to learn how).  Keep refrigerated and enjoy!