Semi-Homemade Desserts
By Sandra Lee
Published by Miramax Books
October 2003; $19.95US/$29.95CAN; 140135927-2

Sandra Lee -- author of the New York Time's best-seller Semi-Homemade
Cooking -- returns with over 100 quick and delicious recipes for everyone's
favorite course -- dessert.

Sandra Lee shares her Semi-Homemade technique of combining fresh ingredients
with specially selected store-bought items -- from cake mixes to Cool-Whip.
You can now create desserts that are as simple to make as they are
sensational to eat. Each Semi-Homemade treat tastes as if it were made 100%
from scratch -- but is created in a fraction of the time.

Semi-Homemade Desserts even includes a chapter with fun-to-make recipes from
your favorite celebrities as well as a bonus chapter to help you host the
most incredibly creative gatherings for your friends and family. The best
part is you can do it all in minutes, with products right from your
cupboard!

Author

Sandra Lee is an internationally acclaimed author and lifestyle expert with
a devoted following in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany,
Australia, Asia, and South Africa. Her signature Semi-Homemade approach to
cooking, home decorating, gardening, entertaining, beauty, food, and fashion
offers savvy shortcuts and down-to-earth secrets for creating a beautiful,
affordable lifestyle. Her first book Semi-Homemade Cooking was a New York
Times national best-seller. Sandra has shared her time-saving tips, tricks,
and recipes on NBC's Today, Entertainment Tonight, CNN, ABC's The View, and
on local news programs around the country. A regular lifestyle contributor
to Parade, Sandra has also been featured in such publications as W Magazine,
Newsweek, Woman's Day, Redbook, and Readers Digest. She is currently in
development for a Semi-Homemade television series. She lives in Los Angeles.

For more information, please visit the author's Web site at:
www.semi-homemade.com or visit www.writtenvoices.com.

Mini Pumpkin Spice Cakes With Orange Glaze

Makes 8

Cake:

1 box (18.25-ounce) spice cake mix, Betty Crocker SuperMoist®

1 1/4 cups water

1/3 cup vegetable oil

3 eggs

Orange Glaze:

2/3 cup heavy cream

1 bag (12-ounce) premier white morsels, Nestlé

Red and yellow food coloring

Marzipan Stems and Leaves:

1 package (7-ounce) marzipan, Odense®

Green food coloring

Special Equipment:

Disposable latex gloves, leaf-shaped cookie cutter

Prep time: 20 minutes, baking time: 20 minutes, cooling time: 30 minutes

Chilling time: 10 minutes, decorating time: 15 minutes

Cake Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Oil and flour 8 mini bundt pans. Combine cake
mix, water, oil, and eggs in large bowl. Beat for 2 minutes, or until well
blended. Divide batter equally among prepared pans. Bake for 20 minutes, or
until toothpick inserted near center of cakes comes out clean. Cool cakes in
pans on cooling racks for 15 minutes. Invert cakes onto cooling rack and
cool completely. Set cooling rack atop baking sheet.

For the Orange Glaze: Heat cream in small saucepan over medium heat until
bubbles appear; remove from heat. Add white morsels and stir until melted
and smooth. Stir in food colorings, 1 drop at a time, until desired color is
achieved. Drizzle glaze over cakes. Refrigerate cakes for 10 minutes, or
until glaze is firm. Cover and reserve any remaining glaze.

For the Marzipan Stems and Leaves:

Place marzipan in medium bowl. Using latex gloves, knead food coloring,
1drop at a time, into marzipan until desired color is achieved. Divide
marzipan into 2 equal pieces. Roll 1 marzipan piece into 12-inch-long log.
Cut log crosswise into 8 equal pieces; set aside to use as stems. Flatten
remaining marzipan piece, then place between 2 sheets of plastic wrap. Using
rolling pin, roll out marzipan to 1/4-inch thickness. Using leaf-shaped
cookie cutter or small sharp knife, cut out 24 leaves. Decorate cakes with
marzipan stems and leaves. Rewarm reserved glaze. Serve cakes, passing glaze
alongside.

Copyright © 2003 SLSH Enterprises

For more information, please visit the author's Web site at:
semi-homemade.com.

Smart Book saw Sally selling seashells by the seashore and told us all
about it on Mon, 06 Oct 2003 13:20:16 GMT:

>Sandra Lee -- author of the New York Time's best-seller Semi-Homemade
>Cooking -- returns with over 100 quick and delicious recipes for everyone's
>favorite course -- dessert.
>
>Sandra Lee shares her Semi-Homemade technique of combining fresh ingredients
>with specially selected store-bought items -- from cake mixes to Cool-Whip.
>You can now create desserts that are as simple to make as they are
>sensational to eat. Each Semi-Homemade treat tastes as if it were made 100%
>from scratch -- but is created in a fraction of the time.

Do people REALLY find it so hard to measure flour and sugar? Or to
whip cream? Why do you NEED recipes that say 'add this to a cake mix'?
Personally I'd think they were gross...
(huggles)

~Karen AKA Kajikit

Nobody outstubborns a cat...

Visit my webpage: http://www.kajikitscorner.com
Allergyfree Eating Recipe Swap: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Allergyfree_Eating
Ample Aussies Mailing List: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ampleaussies/

Hark! I heard Kajikit > say:
> Smart Book saw Sally selling seashells by the seashore and told us all
> about it on Mon, 06 Oct 2003 13:20:16 GMT:
>
> >Sandra Lee -- author of the New York Time's best-seller Semi-Homemade
> >Cooking -- returns with over 100 quick and delicious recipes for everyone's
> >favorite course -- dessert.

> Why do you NEED recipes that say 'add this to a cake mix'?
> Personally I'd think they were gross...

For the most part, I agree, but I do have one such recipe that's
quite good:

Moist Lemon Cake

CAKE:

1 packaged lemon cake mix with pudding in mix
4 eggs
¾ C. water
¾ C. vegetable oil
1 small package lemon Jello gelatin

Mix all ingredients with spoon, then beat with electric beater for
two minutes at medium speed. Bake at 325° for 40 minutes.

TOPPING:

2 C. Confectioner's sugar
¼ C. lemon juice
¼ C. orange juice

Mix well in small bowl, pour over warm cake after poking it a few
times with a toothpick. Let cool before serving.


--
j*ni p. ~ mom, gamer, novice cook ~
...fish heads, fish heads, eat them up, yum!