Happy Valentine's Day and Arizona Statehood Day

 Great way to celebrate Arizona Statehood Day and Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day with Tastes & Treasures II

 Valentine's Day dinner? flowers? candy? If you can't get reservations or have run out of ideas . . . Give the gift of history and cooking and storytelling with Tastes & Treasures II: A Storytelling Cookbook of Historic Arizona. www.HistoricalLeague.org/shop

Perfect for a Party Cake - Moist and Delicious

Served at a lovely baby shower, this cake is so moist with the addition of vanilla pudding mix and sour cream. Perfect for Valentine's Day too. Another delicious cake is Polly Rosenbaum's 100th Birthday cake from Tastes & Treasures cookbook, page136.

SOUR CREAM PUDDING POUND CAKE
Cake Ingredients:
1 yellow cake mix
1 (5 oz.) pkg. instant vanilla flavor pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1/2 cup water
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Cake Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a large mixer bowl. Blend at medium speed for 4 minutes. Line 3 round 9-inch cake pans with parchment paper. Spray the sides with cooking spray (this makes it easy to come out of the pans). Divide batter evenly into each pan and spread batter to the sides. Bake at 35 degrees for 18-20 minutes.

Option: Pour into 2 greased loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 to 50 minutes.

Frosting Ingredients:
2 8 oz packages cream cheese
14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
3/4 cup lemon juice
2 cups fresh raspberries, divided
6 oz frozen whipped topping

Frosting Directions:
Using medium sized bow, whip together cream cheese, condensed milk and lemon juice. Fold in 1 cup raspberries and whipped topping. Blend. Chill for 10 minutes.
Frost cake layers and garnish with remaining 1 cup raspberries. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Banana Split Bites for Your Valentine

Something fun to make for Valentine's Day. The kids will love it. Tastes & Treasures cookbook also has a delicious dessert - Chocolate Peanut Treats page 162. Yummmm.

Chocolate Covered Banana Split Bites
Makes about 24

• 24 – 1″ pieces from about 1/2 small pineapple
• 2 large bananas, sliced into 24 bite sized pieces
• 12 small to medium sized strawberries sliced in half

• 150g(5oz) good quality dark chocolate (I used 72%) (this is between 3/4 – 1C if using a cup measurement for chocolate chips)
• 2 tsp coconut oil
• chopped nuts or coconut for rolling in (optional)

Chop fruit and assemble into stacks.  Press a popsicle stick through the fruit and freeze until solid.
Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper, wax paper or a silicone mat.  Melt the chocolate along with the coconut oil either in a double boiler or in the microwave using short intervals and stirring frequently to prevent burning.  Once completely melted, remove the frozen fruit from the freezer.  Dip the fruit in the chocolate, let the excess drip off for a minute and then place on the sheet to harden.  If desired, dip the chocolate covered side immediately in chopped nuts or coconut before placing on the sheet to harden.  Once the chocolate is completely hardened (you may need to place in the freezer for it to harden completely), remove from the sheet and place in an airtight container to store in the freezer until ready to serve.
When ready to serve, remove them from the freezer and let sit at room temperature for a couple minutes before serving – if you can wait that long. 
I don’t recommend letting these sit for any length of time at room temperature though as they will thaw and the fruit – especially the banana – will not be pleasant.  Please enjoy these within a few minutes of removing from the freezer.

Heart Shaped Coffee Cake Celebrates AZ 100th Birthday

Valentine's Day and Arizona's 100th birthday couldn't be any sweeter with this delicious Cranberry Coffee Cake. Historical League member, Kay Holcombe, is creative in the kitchen with the heart-shaped pan for the coffee cake. The Holcombes, married for 35 years, often give each other innovative and unique gifts for special occasions. This is a great way to celebrate Valentine's Day or any event.

Cranberry Coffee Cake pg. 199 in Tastes & Treasures cookbook
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 cup walnuts or pecans, chopped
1 (16 ounce) can whole cranberry sauce

Confectioners' Sugar Glaze
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons (about) warm water
2 teaspoons lemon juice

For the Coffee Cake: preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt together. Beat the butter in a bowl of a stand mixer until creamy. Add the sugar gradually, beating constantly until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the flour mixture alternately with the sour cream, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the lemon juice and 1/4 cup of the walnuts.

Spoon half the batter into a greased and floured tube pan, 9 X 13 inch baking pan or bundt pan. Spread with 1/2 of the cranberry sauce. Top with the remaining batter and remaining cranberry sauce. Sprinkle with the remaining 1/4 cup walnuts. Bake for 50 to 55 minutes for the tube pan or bundt pan. Bake 35 to 40 minutes for the 9 X 13 pan or until the coffee cake tests done. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes and invert onto a serving platter.

For the Glaze: mix the confectioners' sugar, warm water and lemon juice in a bowl until of a glaze consistency. Drizzle over the warm coffee cake. Let stand until set.