Meal #2 And OMG That Cake!!

Ok, recap…the BFF (Amber) and I are baking our way through a Betty Crocker cookbook. Two weeks ago we got started with a simple meatloaf meal, and the next weeks menu called for Chicken Piccata, Parmesan Rice and Peas with Bacon, Tomato Basil Crostini, and for dessert German Chocolate Cake.

We gathered all of our ingredients and got started. We decided to begin with the cake as it needed the most time for baking and cooling etc… It is really important to look at the provided prep and cooking times so you can coordinate your meal properly otherwise your chicken could be cold by the time your rice is done.

Side note story, Amber texted me the day before to ask why there wasn’t any cake mix or frosting on the grocery list! Ummm…. Amber…. I love ya but this is supposed to be cooking our way through a cookbook… so that means we make it from scratch! LOL

Anyway, the cake mix went together very easily, and we followed all of the steps precisely. This was the very first time Amber had ever made a cake from scratch, so it was a lot of fun! We talked about the difference between soft peaks and stiff peaks when beating egg whites, and once the batter was in the oven, we made the frosting from scratch as well. This was my first ever attempt at the coconut pecan frosting that German Chocolate cake is known for, and I have to say it was easy to do, although I was really relieved that it set up because the it was really, and I mean really runny when it came off the stove.

Crostini went together very quickly, italian bread, tomato, basil, mozzarella, and capers. I have had capers before and remembered them to be very salty, but I figured the cheese would help balance it, and lastly the chicken piccata! I was also skeptical of the “sauce”for the chicken. Once coated and pan seared you’re supposed to pour a mixture of broth and lemon juice over it. It sounded awful to me and I was certain it was going to make the chicken breading soggy. Much to my amazement it didn’t and it really added a brightness to it.

I had a lot of concerns about this meal as I was going… was the frosting going to set up, were the capers going to be too salty, was the chicken going to be soggy…

Now let’s talk about the rice, this was the easiest, and most delicious recipe I have had in a long time,and to make it even better you prepare it all in one pan! It was creamy and light, simply delicious!

With our meal ready, and the cake layers complete with frosting we sat down with the boys to enjoy it! The chicken was juicy with a nice crispy coating, and the rice amazing, I found the crostini to be a little dry but still very flavorful, and now let’s talk about this cake.

I have NEVER, and I mean never had a chocolate cake this good. And that’s saying a lot! I have blogged my own recipes for other chocolate cakes and I’m telling you this was heaven sent! It was moist and delicious, melted in your mouth! The frosting was sweet and buttery… I could have eaten the whole thing… and to make sure I didn’t I sent the rest home with Amber! Who now believes that homemade cake is the only way to eat cake!

We’ll be taking a week off for vacation, and then we’ll have another great family meal from Betty Crockers Red Book! We’ll keep ya posted! Thank you!