Salted Caramel Nut Cake

Leah and I sorta made this up as we went, combining recipes and mixing things around.  In the end, it was sort of to die for.  Just FYI, it is about 540 per sixteenth, but it's really rich, so that's all you'd want anyway!

1 recipe of your favorite chocolate cake, enough for 2 9" round pans

1 1/2 cup of your favorite homemade caramel sauce, separated
1/2 cup cocktail peanuts, coarsely chopped

1 cup salted butter, room temperature
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups powdered sugar

Easy enough - prepare the 9" round pans and bake cake according to directions.  Remove from pans and cool thoroughly.

When the cakes are cool, mix 1 cup caramel with the peanuts.  Spread peanut mixture on top of one of the cakes.  Layer the other cake on top of the peanut layered cake.

When cake layers are assembled, beat the butter until it is light and fluffy.  Add salt and powdered sugar.  Mix until combined (still fluffy).  Beat in remaining 1/2 cup caramel.  Frosting should be light and lovely.  Spread over cake.

Put entire cake in fridge for 1 hour until it is all set.  Enjoy!

Coconut Chicken

I found this online the other day and tried it tonight. I tweaked it (as usual) to fit my needs, so here's my version.

Ingredients:
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 cup sweetened coconut
1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp pepper
3 chicken breasts
1/2 cup apricot jam (I used peach and just added a little lemon juice)
2-4 TBSP coarse ground mustard, to taste
cooked rice
canned apricots

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400. Mix coconut, flour, salt, garlic, and pepper. Cut chicken into large strips. Dip into egg mixture, then coat in coconut mixture. Place in a greased pan. Sprinkle any remaining coconut mix on top if desired. Spray top of chicken with Pam as well. Bake 30-40 minutes, until chicken is cooked and coconut is browned a little. For sauce, just mix the jam and the mustard to taste. To serve, pile rice onto plates. Place chicken on top, and pour sauce on top. Lastly, place apricots on the top and serve warm.

Pumpkin Pie Cake

Okay, this one's good, and it's really low in calories.  Here's the gist.

1 spice cake mix (Betty Crocker Super Moist) - pick the one with 160 calories per serving
1 can (15 oz) pumpkin pack
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice.

Yep, just mix these three together and then bake according to package directions.  DO NOT add eggs or oil.  You can add some water to the batter to get it to a thinner texture.  You will probably have to bake just a little longer than the package says.  Easy.

Frosting?

8 oz. Neufchatel cheese
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Yep, just mix and go.  You can add a tablespoon of milk or so if you need.

Calories?  234 for a 12th of the cake.  That's a pretty big serving of cake for not very many calories.  Want some variation?  Leah and I also tried using a chocolate cake mix and omitted the pumpkin pie spice.  We added just a little more cocoa powder and it was wonderful.