Recipes from Valentine's Day Dinner

So last night's lasagna and chocolate cherry cake was pretty good, if I do say so myself. Not a bad meal for a last-minute deal. Thought I would take a minute and post the recipes so you can try it at home. The best part of the cake is the marshmallow icing, so that recipe is down below. The lasagna recipe is slightly different than the one I've used previously, but still pretty basic; I used one from All Recipes as a foundation and played with it a little -- you'll see my notes on where I made adjustments. Until next time!

Melted Ice Cream Cake
Serves 16
Preparation Time: 5 to 7 minutes
Baking Time: 38 to 42 minutes
Assembly Time: 10 minutes

vegetable oil spray for misting the pan
flour for dusting the pan
1 package (18.25 ounces) plain white cake mix
2 cups melted ice cream, your choice of flavor - use one pint of Ben & Jerry's or other premium without a lot of air mixed in
3 large eggs

1. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Lightly mist a 12-cup Bundt pan with vegetable oil spray, then dust with flour. Shake out the excess flour. Set the pan aside (I used two 8" pans instead).

3. Place the cake mix, melted ice cream, and eggs in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with the rubber spatula. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes more, scraping the sides down again if needed. The batter should look thick and well blended. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with the rubber spatula.

4. Place the pan in the oven.

5. Bake the cake until it springs back when lightly pressed with your finger and just starts to pull away from the sides of the pan, 38 to 42 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and place it on a wire rack to cool for 20 minutes. Run a long, sharp knife around the edge of the cake and invert it onto a small rack, then invert it again onto a second rack so that the cake is right side up to complete cooling, 30 minutes more. NOTE: For two 8" pans, bake for 30 minutes - 35 is too long!

6. Meanwhile prepare the Chocolate Marshmallow Frosting, or another frosting that would go well with the flavor of the ice cream in the cake. Place the cake on a serving platter and frost the top of the cake with clean, smooth strokes.

Chocolate Marshmallow Frosting

2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
6 large marshmallows
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Sift the sugar and cocoa powder together into a large mixing bowl. Set aside.

2. Place the marshmallows, butter, and milk in a medium-size heavy saucepan over low heat. Stir until the marshmallows are melted, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat. Pour the confectioners' sugar and cocoa mixture over the marshmallow mixture. Add the vanilla and stir until the frosting is smooth and satiny.

3. Use at once to frost the top of the cake. NOTE: the icing sets up immediately, so you kind of have to be quick.


Basic Lasagna

INGREDIENTS

1 pound lean ground beef -- I used sweet Italian sausage
1 (32 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce -- I used 1 1/2 cans of Hunts 4-cheese spaghetti sauce
32 ounces cottage cheese -- I substituted part-skim ricotta cheese
3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese -- I used Italian pizza blend
2 eggs
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese -- I used the same Italian pizza blend
2 teaspoons dried parsley
salt to taste
ground black pepper to taste
9 lasagna noodles
1/2 cup water

1. In a large skillet over medium heat brown the ground beef. Drain the grease. Add spaghetti sauce and simmer for 5 minutes.

2. In a large bowl, mix together the cottage cheese, 2 cups of the mozzarella cheese, eggs, half of the grated Parmesan cheese, dried parsley, salt and ground black pepper.

3. To assemble, in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish evenly spread 3/4 cup of the sauce mixture. Cover with 3 uncooked lasagna noodles, 1 3/4 cup of the cheese mixture, and 1/4 cup sauce. Repeat layers twice. Top with 3 noodles, remaining sauce, remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Add 1/2 water to the edges of the pan. Cover with aluminum foil.

4. Bake in a preheated 350 degree F(175 degrees C) oven for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 10 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

NOTE: I made mine ahead of time and stuck it in the fridge until right before baking, so I didn't add the water to the edges of the pan -- the noodles had softened up a bit while sitting. I also didn't cover it while baking, which leads to that lovely burnt cheese texture that Rodger loves so much!