Cartoon Network

The Super Hero Squad Show

Posted on by cartooncravings

Episode: Invader From the Dark Dimension!
Corn, Dirt, and Cabbage Spaghetti

“Ready, Squaddies?” Time to Hero-Wait! Too early in the blog. I didn’t even give a supervillain the chance to show up. That shouldn’t’ take too long though since Doctor Doom teamed up with almost every one of them and formed the Lethal Legion. And if the troublemakers in Villainville aren’t enough, there are plenty of other baddies out there with their own plans for wreaking havoc on Super Hero City, the Earth, and the entire Universe. With all of these villains around, we’re going to need a few good heroes. That’s where the Super Hero Squad comes in. It’s the Squad’s mission to prevent Doctor Doom from rebuilding the Infinity Sword by collecting all the Infinity Fractals before he does. Plus there’s all that other superhero business they need to take care of. Lucky for The Super Hero Squad, they have S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents and other heroes to come to their aid. (“You can’t throw a cow in this town without hitting a superhero.”) Unlucky for the Squaddies, they all have to live together in S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Helicarrier.

Sure, you might think it’d be funny if Iron Man, Thor, Falcon, Hulk, Wolverine, and Silver Surfer lived under one roof, but actually…no, it is funny, especially when the other Squaddies have to deal with Silver Surfer’s cooking. The Surfer loves cooking, but his food tends to make his friends “bloweth mighty chunks.” When Baron Mordo possesses Iron Man, Thor blames Silver Surfer’s “freaky cosmic food” for Iron Man’s odd behavior and smell. Silver Surfer does admit that his food would be better if he had taste buds, but that doesn’t stop him from cooking. So when the Squad returns to the Helicarrier (Minus Falcon, Redwing, and “Iron Menace.”), Silver Surfer whips up a fresh batch of corn, dirt, and cabbage spaghetti for them. The Surfer calls it comfort food, but he still takes it into battle and throws it on Doctor Doom. It delights Silver Surfer when Doom picks up on the Parmesan because he finally found someone who appreciates gourmet cooking. Gourmet or not, the spaghetti looks a little scary, so this will be quite the battle for me. Hmm. I guess that means it’s “Time to Hero Up!”

Recipe makes about 9 cups.

Ingredients

8 ounces spaghetti

2 tablespoons olive oil

½ cup onions, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

2 tablespoons dried mushroom powder (Did you think I was really using dirt?)

1 cup corn

4 cups red cabbage, thinly sliced

8 cups beef broth

Shredded Parmesan cheese

Salt

Pepper

Directions

Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion and cabbage and cook until softened, about 10 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add beef broth, dried mushroom powder, and corn and bring to a boil. Add the spaghetti and cook until the noodles have reached your desired doneness. Season with salt and pepper and add Parmesan cheese. Enjoy!

Super Hero CDCSSuperHeroSquad CDCS

Looking at the corn, dirt, and cabbage spaghetti makes me feel pukey, but it tastes much better than it looks. And now I know I can use it as a weapon during a fight. It’s a tactic called “Making someone sick with some home cooking.” Silver Surfer uses this when he starts throwing “truly powerful” meat pies at Abomination and Wolverine. Just seeing Surfer’s cooking is now enough to scare off Doctor Doom. Even though Surfer’s cooking is “deadly,” he loves it and that’s all that matters. Iron Man rewards him for assembling the Defenders and allows him to be cook for a day at the Stark Industries Café. This calls for a new name for Silver Surfer. Now he is the Cosmic Chef.

Tune in next week for more Cartoon Cravings!

Rabbit of Seville

Posted on by cartooncravings

Fruit Salad

The month of June always gets me thinking about a certain Looney Tune. Oh, you know the one. Cartoon Network used to do a marathon in honor of the guy. What was that called? June Something. June Duck! No, that’s not right. (Who would want to watch something called June Duck?) Now I remember! It was June Bugs. I know, like I could ever forget June Bugs. Bugs Bunny is one of my favorite cartoon characters EVER, so a weekend of nothing but Bugs was kind of a big deal to me. Yeah, the days of June Bugs are long gone but that can’t stop me from celebrating the rabbit. I think it’s time for my own June Bugs marathon. I can see the drama, the music (Yeah, “see” the music.), the pageantry, the double and triple-takes, the action, and the romance now. But what I really need to be seeing is the food. Most of the time Bugs just eats plain old carrots or someone’s trying to eat Bugs, but there’s got to be something I can make. (It would be much easier if I did this after watching all the cartoons.) Well, I do have one idea.

While playing around online, I stumbled across some stuff about Bugs Bunny making a fruit salad on Elmer Fudd’s head. I wondered what cartoon that could possibly be in. I hit myself when I found out that it’s Rabbit of Seville. How did I not remember that? Rabbit of Seville was, is, and always will be my favorite Bugs Bunny cartoon. I could sit there and watch Bugs shave and beautify Elmer Fudd all day. (Is that weird?) Now where does the fruit salad come in? I’m getting there. You see, Elmer Fudd was chasing Bugs (Big surprise there.) and the chase leads to an amphitheater (The Hollywood Bowl) where The Barber of Seville is to be performed. Bugs runs in through an open stage door and Elmer follows and ends up on stage. Bugs opens the curtain and the orchestra starts playing. The next thing you know, Bugs “The Barber” scoops up Elmer and gives him quite the shave. The next time Elmer finds himself in the barber chair, Bugs massages Elmer’s head and then uses it as the perfect base for a fruit salad. He piles on some lettuce, a bunch of whole fruit, some carrots (This is Bugs Bunny we’re taking about here.), whipped cream (At least I hope it is.), and tops it all off with a cherry. Bugs shows his masterpiece to Elmer Fudd, but he doesn’t seem to like it too much and goes after Bugs with a razor.

Recipe makes one fruit salad

Ingredients

This is a chance to get creative, so add any fruits or veggies that you see fit. Here’s what I used.

4 lettuce leaves

7 red apples

6 bananas

5 oranges

4 carrots

3 plums

4 lemons

3 pears

2 pale skinned white nectarines

2 small bunches of grapes

1 small pineapple

1 cherry

1-2 (15 ounce) cans whipped cream-I used one whole can and could’ve easily used another

 

Directions

Bugs starts with a ring of cream but whipped cream melts away too quickly, (It was already sliding before I got a picture.) so I started with a bed of 4 lettuce leaves. Toss in an orange, a carrot, an apple and a lemon, and two carrots, an orange, and a plum/apple. Slice one carrot and add it. Toss the fruit salad. Mysterious white and dark stuff started showing up here so that’s why I added the nectarines (They were the palest produce I could find.) and the plums. Add a pineapple and an apple.

Okay, now here’s where it gets confusing and crazy. Bugs tosses on so much stuff so quickly and the fruits change to other ones in midair or in the stack. So just stack as much fruit as you want in whatever way suits you.

This is kind of the order Bugs throws the fruit (It was different each time I watched it.), so I sort of followed that. I just used less fruit because it was already out of hand and the last thing I needed were more apples. He adds an apple and a lemon, a banana and an orange, and a pear, an orange, and an apple. Then he adds an apple and a banana, an apple, an orange, and a pear, an apple and a lemon, a pear and an apple, and an orange, a banana, and a small bunch of grapes. Then he adds an apple, a pear, and an orange, an apple and a banana, an apple and an orange, an orange/apple and a banana, and an apple, a pear, and a mystery shape that looks like a yellow bell pepper (I used another lemon). Then he adds an apple and a banana, an apple, an orange, and a small lemon, an lemon and a banana, an apple, a banana, and an orange, and an orange and an apple. (Whew!)

Then spray on some whipped cream. Place a cherry on top and there you have it!

Rabbit of Seville Fruit SaladRabbit of Seville Fruit

Ugh! You don’t know how badly I wanted to build this on someone’s head! (I did try.) But it’s hard enough to build it on a flat surface. You’d think that these “stacking recipes” would be easy, but gravity is a force to be reckoned with. So no, this is not a normal fruit salad, but Bugs Bunny isn’t a normal rabbit. And he’s definitely not a normal barber. If the fruit salad wasn’t enough to convince you, then maybe Bugs using hair restorer on Elmer Fudd’s face and using an itty bitty lawnmower to shave him might. That or Bugs using fertilizer and growing flowers on Elmer’s head. Yeah, he doesn’t like that too much either. This time he goes after Bugs with an axe. And then they have a weapons chase, and then they have a wedding, and then Bugs drops Elmer Fudd from really high up and he falls into a cake! And I just watched this cartoon five times in a row and I still can’t get tired of it. (I never will.) But if I plan on making it through all of Bugs’ cartoons in one busy weekend, I better move on. “Ehh…next?”

 

Tune in next week for more Cartoon Cravings!

Steven Universe

Posted on by cartooncravings

Episode: Together Breakfast
Even More Together Breakfast

I’d like to say that I’ve been a fan of Steven Universe since the show started, but then I’d be lying. Actually, I was quite late to the party. I was having trouble adjusting to newer shows, so I didn’t even give Steven a chance. But it’s not right for me to say I don’t like a show if I haven’t tried it, so I watched one episode. Then one more. And another and another and now here I am all caught up with everyone else. I felt so silly for thinking that the show had nothing to offer me because it has something for everyone. It’s weird and silly but serious and action-packed. Plus the characters are all so different, be it personalities, abilities, sizes, shapes, colors, whatever. And the amount of heart this show has surprised me. I love Steven’s relationship with the Gems and after I watched “Together Breakfast,” I knew I was hooked on the show.

The episode, just like the title food, is fun and sweet. Steven wakes up to an empty house and starts making breakfast. He’s got four toaster waffles with syrup. (Okay.) When he finds that the Gems still aren’t home, he adds some microwave popcorn. (Interesting.) The house is still empty. What does Steven do? He adds some whipped cream. (Now it’s out of control!) But wait, there’s more! He tops it all off with a strawberry. Now Steven comes to the conclusion that this is too good to be eaten alone. This is a “Together Breakfast” which should be eaten with the Gems like best buds. But when the Gems return, Steven’s breakfast gets turned down and ignored. Not letting that deter him, Steven follows Pearl into her room in the hopes of getting everyone together before his Together Breakfast becomes Together Brunch. This leads to him getting caught up in a waterfall, being chased by Amethyst, and sliding down to the bottom of the Crystal Temple. And just when everyone is together, they have to fight a smoke monster that takes refuge in the Together Breakfast. (“Now it has all the power of a breakfast. We have to destroy it.”) After the battle, they make a Together Breakfast that’s even more together and even more breakfast.

Recipe makes one shareable breakfast.

Ingredients

8 toaster waffles

1-2 bags microwave popcorn

Maple syrup

Canned whipped cream

Strawberry

 

Directions

Alright, this one’s easy. Toast the waffles according to the directions on the box. Place the waffles on a plate in two stacks of 4. Drizzle maple syrup over the waffles. Pop popcorn according to the instructions on the box/bag. Dump as much popcorn as you desire over the sticky waffles. Top with whipped cream and a strawberry. Now you can finally eat!

Steven Universe Together BreakfastSteven Universe More Together Bfst

Okay, so Steven and the Gems decide not to eat the Together Breakfast after all. (“Pizza’s a better idea.”) The Together Breakfast looks great! How can they pass that up? Well, it did try to kill them, so I guess I understand. But I live for food like this so whether I had to fight it or not, I’m eating it. Seeing Steven build the original Together Breakfast made me smile because I’ve been in his sandals and done the similar things. Just not with waffles and popcorn. Too bad the idea of eating the Together Breakfast is now ruined for Steven and the Gems because it’s even more fun to eat than it is to make. But it still brings them together, so it’s not a complete waste.

 

Tune in next week for more Cartoon Cravings!

Captain Planet and the Planeteers

Posted on by cartooncravings

Episode: Mind Pollution
Blintzes

“I’m your powers magnified. Haven’t you heard the song? ‘Captain Planet, he’s our hero…’” Isn’t Captain Planet just the greatest superhero? He sings his own theme song! And when he’s not singing or quoting, he’s making some bad joke or pun. (He’d fit in just fine at my house.) But the greatest thing about Captain Planet is that he’s a hero for Earth, which honestly needs all the help it can get. With the invaluable aid of the Planeteers, Eco-Villains are thwarted, animals are saved, pollution is stopped, and people are educated. Yes, this is an educational show. And it’s a darn good one because it inspired me to be part of the solution and not the pollution.

When I watch Captain Planet and the Planeteers, I get so angry at the stupid Eco-Villains that I just want to reach in my TV and start smacking them around. They cheat, kill, destroy, and pollute just to satisfy their own greed and cause trouble. And it’s not just the environment that’s in danger. People get hurt too, especially when Verminous Skumm is out causing the most insidious kind of pollution by dealing drugs. Linka’s cousin Boris becomes hopelessly addicted to Skumm’s drug, Bliss, and puts her in danger in order to get more. Linka’s too smart to do drugs, but she’s in a world of trouble when Boris slips Bliss into some blintzes and she eats one.

Recipe makes about 10 filled blintzes.

Ingredients

Filling:

2 pounds ground beef

2 medium onions, finely chopped

2 teaspoons parsley flakes

1 ½ teaspoons salt

½ teaspoon pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil

 

Blintzes:

2 large eggs, room temperature

2 cups milk, room temperature

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

1 ¾ cups flour

Oil or Nonstick Cooking Spray

Butter

 

Directions

Filling:

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until softened, about 4 minutes. Add the ground beef, salt, pepper, and parsley and cook until meat is browned. Stir occasionally while browning to break up the meat. Remove from heat and set aside.

Blintzes:

In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, oil, sugar, and salt. Gradually whisk in the flour and continue whisking until the mixture is smooth and has the consistency of heavy cream.

Place a crepe pan or 10-inch nonstick pan over medium-high heat. Once hot, add a little bit of oil. Pour 1/3 cup of batter in, tilting the pan to evenly spread it. When the edge of the blintz begins to brown and curl, flip it over using a thin spatula or your fingers if you’re careful. Cook for another 20-30 seconds and set it on a plate with a bit of butter on it so it doesn’t stick. Top the blintz with a bit more butter so the next one won’t stick to it. Repeat the process with the remaining batter.

Putting It All Together:

Place about ¼ cup of filling slightly off from the middle of a blintz and spread out into a cylinder shape. Fold in the top and bottom sides and roll up the blintz. Repeat with the other blintzes. Now you can enjoy a tasty, 100% Bliss-Free blintz!

Variations:
After folding the blintzes, you can heat some oil in a pan over medium heat and brown the blintzes on both sides. Blintzes can be filled with anything you want. I just assumed it was ground beef because people have compared the blintz to a burrito. If you don’t want the large burrito shape, you can place the filling in the middle, bring the left and right sides completely over the filling, and roll up the blintz from the top. This shape doesn’t need as much filling, so you should be able to cut the filling recipe in half.

captainplanetblintzCaptain Planet Blintz (2)

This episode sticks out in my mind for a few reasons. Yes, the blintz is one of them, but the main reason is because this episode gets downright scary. The Planeteers are in the middle of a zombie siege. Boris breaks through a window and cuts his arms badly and bleeds everywhere. Then Boris…he…you know. And I wasn’t expecting that! This show has shocked me a few times, but that was the biggest. There are real dangers out there, so I’m proud of this show for not sugar-coating anything. We may not have those specific Eco-Villains around, but our world is in peril. I wasn’t given a magic ring, but I can still help protect the Earth. I’m a Planeteer and you can be one too! Remember, “THE POWER IS YOURS!”

Tune in next week for more Cartoon Cravings!

Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends

Posted on by cartooncravings

Episode: Goodbye to Bloo
“Sugar-Free” Foster’s Famous Triple Chocolate Chip Cookies

Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends is one of the most brilliant concepts for a cartoon. It’s fun to see imaginary friends as visible, living, breathing beings coexisting with humans. And when their children have to give them up, instead of just going “poof,” the imaginary friends can go to a safe place like Foster’s until they meet a new family. I’d be more than happy to adopt someone. (I’d snag up Wilt in a second.) But if I had the chance, I’d love to be in Mac’s shoes. He gets to play with all the friends he wants every single day. I know that he has to show up every day if he wants to keep Bloo, but spending most of my free time at Foster’s doesn’t sound too shabby. The whole reason for Foster’s existence is to get friends adopted, so it’s tough to have to let go, but having great friends for a little while is better than never making any at all. (And if the family isn’t the right fit, the friends find their way back to Foster’s sooner or later.)

When the tables have turned and those at Foster’s hear about Mac moving, they try to do something special for him to show how much they care. The sweetest gesture that I’ve seen in this show (And a whole lot of other shows for that matter.) is when Madame Foster bakes a special sugar-free batch of her Famous Triple Chocolate Chip Cookies just for Mac. He was surrounded by those cookies when Bloo decided to start selling them, but he was never able to try one because he can’t have sugar. So when Madame Foster presents Mac with a plate of cookies and he gets all excited, it’s really touching. There are some very important people in my life who have to watch out for refined sugar, (No, not because it makes them crazy.) so I’m always on the lookout for sugar-free desserts that actually taste like something. After a little experimenting, I finally made a batch of cookies that are really good.

The sizes seem to vary with these cookies, but I prefer the ¼ cup sized ones. Bloo mentions in “Cookie Dough” that the original Foster’s Famous Cookies bake at 250 degrees and the slow-bake method does indeed work. I’m just not patient enough for it, (My cookies were in the oven for 40 minutes!) so 350 degrees it is for me.

Recipe makes about ten cookies.

Ingredients

¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) butter, room temperature

½ cup sugar free imitation honey

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 2/3 cups, plus 2 tablespoons sifted flour

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

1 ½ -1 ¾ cups sugar-free chocolate chips
(You may want to use less if your stomach’s not too familiar with sugar-free chocolate. Too much of a good thing can be bad for you if you get my drift.)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a medium bowl.

In a stand mixer on medium speed, beat the butter and imitation honey until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and mix well. Gradually add the dry ingredients and mix until combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Drop dough by ¼ cupfuls, 2 inches apart, onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Flatten the cookies slightly.

Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until cookies are golden and set, 18-20 minutes.

Remove the cookie sheets from the oven and allow the cookies to cool slightly before moving them to a wire rack to cool completely. Now you can eat!

Variations: If granulated artificial sweeteners are more your style, replace the imitation honey with 2/3 cup of your preferred sweetener and reduce the amount of flour by 2 tablespoons. You can help the cookies brown by spraying them with cooking spray, but they won’t get that dark.

fosters-chocolate-chips-2fosters-cookies

Madame Foster typically only bakes her cookies once a year to keep them special, but there’s no way I could handle that. I’d turn into a raging cookie addict like Frankie did before or I’d at least down an entire plate in one go like Bloo. (Although he ate the cookies just to speed Mac along.) But now that I’ve started to work on cracking the sugar substitute code, I won’t feel as bad if I make these cookies a little more often than Madame Foster. (I’ve still got a long way to go because they’re not healthy.) I’ll try not to get too out of control and slip into a cookie coma. I just need to take my time and chew slowly enough to savor each and every bite.

Tune in next week for more Cartoon Cravings!

Justice League Unlimited

Posted on by cartooncravings

Episode: The Balance
Pasta Shells with Peas

The number one reason I’m such a superhero nut, is because I stumbled into the DC Animated Universe at a very young age. (I didn’t get to really know Marvel until later.) I watched every episode of every show I could and I still wanted more superheroes. Lucky for me, I didn’t have to wait long before Justice League Unlimited was born. I already loved Justice League, but adding all of the extra superheroes just made everything more fun. The core seven will always be my favorites, but I got to fall in love with so many new people and I felt like I was becoming quite the hero expert. The greatest thing about JLU, is getting to go beyond the masks and capes and seeing the superheroes as “regular people” living and working together, fighting and playing, and even dating. (I wasn’t the only one falling in love.) Every interaction is so cute.

Just seeing the heroes eating together at the commissary in the Watchtower is enough to make me giggle. That still applies even when they’re being huffy with each other, like Wonder Woman and Hawkgirl. The Flash was trying to be sweet and have them eat dinner together, but they just couldn’t get along. (Their food wasn’t even a safe topic.) Judging from their trays and the trays of most of the other heroes, I’m figuring that pasta shells with peas is that day’s special. I don’t know who cooks up there, but they are feeding superheroes so I’d have to assume the food’s pretty good.

Recipe makes seven 1-cup servings.

Ingredients

1/2 pound large pasta shells

4 cups frozen peas, thawed

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion

3 cloves garlic

1 cup chicken broth

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1 teaspoon parsley

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Salt

Pepper

 

Directions

Sauce with Peas:

Add the oil to a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until soft and translucent. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add the chicken broth, heavy cream, peas, parsley, salt, and pepper. Simmer until the sauce has thickened, 5-6 minutes.

Pasta Shells:

Bring a large pot full of water to a boil. Add the noodles and cook, stirring occasionally, until the noodles have cooked through, 10-12 minutes. Drain.

Putting It All Together:

Lightly toss the hot noodles in the sauce. Add the Parmesan cheese and dish out!

JLU PastaJLU Pasta Peas (3)

This dinner is pretty humble compared to Flash’s overloaded tray, but I don’t burn through calories as quickly as he does. I have to say though, the pasta shells with peas taste better than most ( Okay, all.) of the cafeteria food I’ve had. I don’t know if it’s the pasta or the sauce or the two of them coming together to do some good. Wonder Woman and Hawkgirl may be like oil and vinegar, but everything in this dish mixes perfectly.

 

Tune in next week for more Cartoon Cravings!

Codename: Kids Next Door 2

Posted on by cartooncravings

Episode: Operation: C.A.K.E.D.
The Delightful Children’s Birthday Cake

Oh my good golly gosh! My baby blog, Cartoon Cravings, is a year old! Thank you so much for all the love and attention! It’s because of you that we’ve made it this far. It’s truly been a labor of love and quite the learning experience. I know I’ve made mistakes and this whole blogging thing isn’t perfect, but I can only see Cartoon Cravings getting bigger and better in the future.

In honor of Cartoon Cravings 1st Birthday, I’m going back to where it all started: Codename: Kids Next Door. You all remember Nurse Claiborne’s Apple Crumble, right? Well things are about to get scarier because I’m taking on the Delightful Children From Down the Lane and their birthday cake. Every year, the Kids Next Door tries to foil the Delightful Children’s birthday party of horror by stealing their cake. This year, it’s my turn. “Kids Next Door, Battle Stations!”

Recipe makes one double-layered, 3-tiered cake so you need to make at least 2 batches of everything

Ingredients

Coconut Cake:

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temperature

2 cups sugar

4 large eggs, room temperature, separated

3 cups cake flour, sifted

3 teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

1 cup coconut milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon coconut extract

 

Seven-Minute Frosting

1 ½ cups sugar

1/3 cup water

2 egg whites

2 teaspoons light corn syrup

¼ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon coconut extract

 

1-2 cups shredded coconut (Optional)

 

Buttercream Icing

½ cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature

½ cup shortening

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon coconut extract

4 cups (1 pound) powdered sugar, sifted

2 tablespoons coconut milk

Blue food coloring

Green food coloring

Red and yellow food coloring
OR
Red and yellow candy melts

 

Directions

Coconut Cake:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Grease and flour a 6-inch, an 8-inch, and a 10-inch cake pan.

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. In a stand mixer, cream butter and sugar until fluffy (about 3 minutes). Add vanilla and coconut extracts and beat in egg yolks. Add flour mixture and coconut milk alternatingly, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Stir until just combined.

In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Gently fold the egg whites into the batter until just combined.

Divide cake batter amongst pans. Gently tap or drop pans on the counter to remove air pockets. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean when the cake is tested. Cool in pans for 10 minutes. Remove cakes from pans and wrap completely in plastic wrap. This will help keep your cakes moist. Cool completely on baking racks.

Repeat.

Seven-Minute Frosting:

Bring 4 cups of water to a boil in a saucepan or bottom of a double boiler. Combine sugar, water, egg whites, corn syrup, and salt in a medium-size mixing bowl or top of the double boiler. Place the bowl over the boiling water. Be careful not to let the bowl touch the water or else the frosting may become grainy. Begin beating the mixture with an electric hand mixer on low speed for a minute. Increase the speed to high and beat until stiff and glossy, 5-7 minutes. Remove the frosting from the heat and add the vanilla and coconut extracts. Beat again for 1 minute. 

Repeat.

Buttercream Icing:

In a stand mixer, beat butter and shortening until fluffy. Add vanilla and coconut extracts. Beat powdered sugar in, a little at a time. Scrape down sides of the bowl and add coconut milk. If the icing is too thick, add more coconut milk, ½ teaspoon at a time.

Repeat.

Putting It All Together:

Unwrap cooled cakes. Trim excess cake from the layers so they are all level. Place one of the 10-inch cakes on a strong board or tray. Top the cake with a layer of the seven-minute frosting. Sprinkle some shredded coconut on top of the frosting or mix some in before spreading. Place the second layer on top and ice the entire cake with the seven-minute frosting. Chill until the icing sets. Place one of the 8-inch cakes on a cardboard cake circle. Repeat the filling, layering, and icing process and chill. Do the same thing for the 6-inch cakes.

The cake isn’t too big but it’s heavy, so I used a few dowels to keep everything in place. You don’t necessarily have to do it if it’s not going anywhere or it will be eaten quickly, but it’s better to be safe than saggy. Use a cardboard circle to measure where the middle tier will sit on the bottom one. Lightly trace the circle. Place a dowel (Fat drinking straws work well too.) In the measured area. Mark the height of the cake, remove the dowel, and cut 4-5 dowels to that size. Shove them into the cake along the circle pattern with one in the middle. Repeat the doweling process with the middle tier using 2-3 dowels. Place the middle tier on the bottom one, making sure it’s centered. Stack the top tier on the middle one and chill again. The seven-minute icing needs to be very set before you can decorate it.

Divide the buttercream and color. Scoop the blue icing into a piping bag with a star or other appropriate tip and dot along the top and bottom edges of each tier. Scoop some green icing in a piping bag with a petal or other appropriate tip and pipe small banner decorations along each tier. Each banner has yellow or red decorations, so I cut colored candy melts and pressed them into the banners. Piping small dots using yellow and red icing is fine too. Chill the cake one last time. Light some candles and serve! (Captive party guests are optional.)

Variations: My bottom tier is on the stubby side. I didn’t notice it until it was too late. It doesn’t help that I put it on a deep tray. That was stupid of me. Don’t do it. You’ve got options to increase the height on that bottom tier. You can bake up more cake and add an extra layer. You can even try to steal a little batter from the other layers. 
If you want different sized rounds or edges, just adjust the sizes of the cake pans to fit your needs.

KND CakeKND Bday Cake

Too bad the Kids Next Door didn’t get to taste their victory. But it beats being the Delightful Children. Laura (The Big Badolescent) isn’t afraid to let them know she hates coconut. They get to feel the agony of defeat twice as hard. As for me, I’d say my mission was a success. (No, my cake decorating skills still aren’t there yet, but I’ll get better eventually.) So pull up a chair and grab a slice of cake. We’re playing party games next!

 

Tune in next week for more Cartoon Cravings!

Scooby Doo, Where Are You!

Posted on by cartooncravings

Episode: Spooky Space Kook
Shaggy’s Jaw-Stretcher Special

There aren’t a whole lot of shows out there that left an impression on me as strong as Scooby Doo, Where Are You! Most of my favorite things today are: cartoons, mysteries, dogs, and food. Coincidence? I think not. There’s no way I could watch that show over and over and not take something from it. Whether I turned on my TV morning, noon, or night, Scooby Doo was on. For me, Scooby-Doo easily became synonymous with Cartoon Network. And I guess I’m not the only one who thought that. (How else did he get elected President?)

Another Scooby Doo influence is that even though I’m a fraidy cat, I love legends about ghosts and monsters. If I heard someone talk about a haunted mansion, zombie, or outer space ghost in the area, I’d be the second person on the scene. (I’d need the first person to use as a shield.) I’d try to stay out of trouble, but with my luck I’d end up just like Shaggy and Scooby and come face to face with the ghost/monster/scary thing. Either that or I’d end up getting trapped or something, like “Danger Prone Daphne”, or losing my glasses somewhere, like Velma. I share the worst traits with the members of Mystery, Inc., so they probably wouldn’t let me join. But I can be persuaded with food too, so maybe they actually would. Shaggy and Scooby seem to have the most fun anyway. I’d just stick with them and pass the time eating strange, big sandwiches, like Shaggy’s Jaw-Stretcher Special. Yeah, chocolate sauce on a meatloaf and bologna sandwich is odd, but it beats a sardine and marshmallow fudge one.

Recipe makes 1 sandwich.

Ingredients

You can add any amount of stuff to your sandwich, but here’s kind of a guideline:

3 slices Bologna

3 slices Meatloaf

1 slice Swiss Cheese

1 slice Cheddar Cheese

1 leaf Lettuce

The following can’t actually be seen on the sandwich, so they are optional:

Tomatoes

Green Olives

Ketchup

Mustard

Mayonnaise

 

5 Slices of Wheat Sandwich Bread Or

Bread:

½ cup warm water (105-115 degrees F)

1 ¼ teaspoons yeast

½ tablespoon sugar

½ cup, plus 2 tablespoons milk, room temperature

1 ½ tablespoons honey

1 teaspoon salt

¼ cup (1/2 stick) butter, softened and cut into chunks

2 ½ cups whole wheat flour

 

1 Bottle of Chocolate Syrup Or

Chocolate Syrup:

1 cup water

2 cups sugar

1 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder

1 tablespoon light corn syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon salt

 

Directions

Bread:

In a small bowl, dissolve yeast and sugar in the warm water. Let it rest for 5-10 minutes, or until foamy. In a large bowl, combine whole wheat flour and salt. Add yeast mixture, milk, and honey and stir to combine. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead in the butter. Once the butter is fully incorporated, continue kneading the dough for 8 minutes. Form the dough into a ball and place in a large, clean bowl. Lightly coat dough with oil and cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise in a warm place for 1 ½ to 2 hours or until it has doubled in size. Punch down the dough and shape into a loaf. Place the dough into a greased 9-inch loaf pan, cover, and let rise for an hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Bake loaf for 30 minutes. Place the pan on a cooling rack and let rest for 5 minutes. Turn the bread out and let rest on the rack until completely cooled. Slice.

Chocolate Syrup:

In a medium saucepan, combine water, sugar, cocoa powder, and salt. Bring to a boil and whisk until sugar, cocoa powder, and salt dissolve. Whisk in the corn syrup and vanilla extract. Allow the cocoa mixture to simmer until it has slightly thickened, whisking occasionally. Remove mixture from heat and cool completely.

Putting It All Together:

Tomatoes, green olives, ketchup, mustard, and mayonnaise can be added to any layer of the sandwich but the top.

Place down a slice of bread. Add a slice of Swiss cheese and top with another piece of bread. Add a lettuce leaf and two slices of meatloaf. Top with another slice of bread and place two slices of bologna on top of that. Add another slice of bread and a slice of cheddar cheese. Cover that with one more slice of bread, a slice of bologna, and a slice of meatloaf. Drench the sandwich in chocolate syrup. Now it’s ready to be eaten!

scoobydoo jawstretcherScooby Doo Sandwich

Okay, I’ve got strange tastes, I know. But this is a really good sandwich. Plus it’s super fun to eat. It’s difficult to get everything in one bite and this one’s tiny compared to some of the sandwiches Shaggy makes. And this one is an absolute mess. Now so am I. I got syrup everywhere and had trouble getting through my sandwich because I couldn’t stop laughing. See, even after all these years, Scooby Doo, Where Are You! still makes me laugh. I don’t think I’ll ever find the “Recipe For My Love” of this series (I know, wrong episode, but I couldn’t resist.) but the recipe for this sandwich is close enough.

 

Tune in next week for more Cartoon Cravings!

Baby Looney Tunes

Posted on by cartooncravings

Episode: Save Our Cinnamon
Cinnamon Rolls

I’ve always been a sucker for baby/kid versions of cartoon characters. I don’t know if it’s because I found them easier to relate to when I was a kid, or if it’s just that the little versions are too cute. Yeah, cute. I’m definitely going with cute. Baby Looney Tunes is no exception. They don’t act much like their adult selves that I know and love, but I like the idea of seeing the characters growing up together in a more modern environment and getting along (for the most part). And I loved watching and waiting to see which characters got the “babyfication” treatment. I mean, of course Bugs, Daffy, and Sylvester are adorable, but have you seen Baby Gossamer? (He’s so cute!) Every time I went to Six Flags, I begged my parents for all the Baby Looney Tunes plushies I could get my hands on because I couldn’t go any longer without that cuteness in my life. Cuddliness aside, Baby Looney Tunes is a sweet, little show, filled with lessons about using your imagination, and trying your best, and doing the right thing, and growing up. (You know, all of those cartoon standards.)

But you know what else is sweet? Cinnamon rolls. Baby Looney Tunes is full of cookies and cakes, but the king of sweets in this show is the cinnamon roll. Granny’s sister, Auntie, owns a bakery called Cakery Bakery Doc which has the most addicting cinnamon rolls. I’m pretty sure the Babies were more excited about eating cinnamon rolls than seeing Auntie. (Daffy was not a happy camper when she brought in a cake for them.) But when the bakery is on the verge of shutting down, the Babies have no problems getting their hands dirty making a giant cinnamon roll worthy of the Skinni’s Book of World Records. As much as I’d love to make a record-breaking, giant cinnamon roll of death, I’m going to play it safe and just bake up a bunch of yummy, regular-sized ones.

Recipe makes 16 cinnamon rolls.

Ingredients

Dough:

1 cup warm milk (105-115 degrees F)

2 ¼ teaspoons yeast

¼ cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

½ cup (1 stick) butter, melted and cooled slightly

2 eggs, room temperature, beaten

2 egg yolks, room temperature, beaten

4 cups flour

 

Filling:

1 cup packed brown sugar

2 tablespoons cinnamon

Pinch of Salt

2 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled slightly

 

Icing:

4 ounces (½ cup) cream cheese, room temperature

½ cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature

2 cups powdered sugar, sifted

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 

Directions

Dough:

In a small bowl, dissolve yeast and 2 tablespoons of sugar in the warm milk. Let it rest for 5-10 minutes, or until foamy. In a large bowl, combine the rest of the sugar, salt, butter, eggs, egg yolks, and 2 cups of flour. Add the yeast mixture. Mix in the rest of the flour until the dough comes together. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes. Form the dough into a ball again and place in a large, clean bowl. Lightly coat dough with oil and cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise in a warm place for 2 hours or until it has doubled in size.

In a small bowl, make the filling by combining the brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Mix well and set aside.

Punch down the dough and turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough into an 18 X 12-inch rectangle. Evenly brush the melted butter on the dough. Sprinkle the filling over the dough and spread to cover evenly. Pat down on the filling just a bit to encourage it to stick. Beginning with the long edge closet to you, use your fingers to tightly roll the dough into a cylinder. Use a serrated knife to cut the cylinder into 16 rolls. Place the rolls on a couple of greased baking sheets and allow to rise for 30 minutes, or until doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Bake the rolls, rotating the pans halfway through, for 30 minutes, or until the rolls are browned and cooked through.

Icing:

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the cream cheese and butter. Add the vanilla extract. Slowly mix in the powdered sugar and beat until the icing is smooth.

Putting It All Together:

Allow the rolls to cool slightly and generously spread icing on top. Now you can enjoy!

babylooneytunesBaby LT Cinn Roll

I love cinnamon rolls as much as the Baby Looney Tunes do, so I know these won’t last long. If it were possible, that sweet smell would have me floating all over the place like the Babies. But what I truly love about this episode (besides the excuse to make cinnamon rolls) is that a little bakery education is thrown in there. The Babies are truly making a cinnamon roll from kneading the dough, to spreading the filling, to rolling it, and baking it up. It takes some work, but cinnamon rolls (and saving bakeries) are definitely worth it.

 

Tune in next week for more Cartoon Cravings!

Johnny Test

Posted on by cartooncravings

Episode: Johnny of the Jungle
Meatloaf Burritos

There are a lot of super geniuses out there in cartoon land. Although I do love them, I feel more at home with the less intelligent and the stupid folk. (I can’t imagine why.) I tried the science thing for a while and turns out, it wasn’t for me. It would be nice to have the brain power to invent gadgets and elixirs for the betterment of mankind. (Or at least myself.) Yeah, I’d probably make most of my stuff for the wrong reasons and end up doing more harm than good. Kind of like the disastrous combination of the Test kids. Just like Johnny, I’d run to the Lab whenever I have a problem, use something that I’m probably not supposed to, and destroy half of my city. I know it’s wrong, but it really does sound kind of fun. And Johnny’s daily life frequently includes a bunch of villains bent on his destruction who are a lot more misguided than evil. And they love a good competition. See, even more fun.

What’s not so fun about living in the Test house is dinner. Or should I just call it meatloaf because they don’t eat much else. Now I love a good meatloaf, (And I think deep down so do the Tests.) but eating one night after night after night gets pretty old pretty fast. That’s even if it’s edible. More often than not it’s too dry or disgusting. Just the word “meatloaf” strikes fear into any member of the Test Household, minus Dukey and Hugh, the meatloaf fanatic. Hugh spends most of his days at home, so he’s got plenty of time to perfect his meatloaf recipes. Instead of focusing on making one killer meatloaf, (I mean that in terms of taste, not the meatloaf monster.) he makes all sorts of meatloaf creations. He’s tried flavored meatloaves, meatloaf casserole, meatloaf pie, meatloaf balls, meatloaf parfaits, mini meatloaves, and meatloaf burritos. Wow, that is a lot of meatloaf. I see how it can get scary in the wrong hands. But I don’t eat meatloaf all that often, so all the possibilities are beginning to sound exciting. Plus, I really like saying “meatloaf burritos.”

Recipe makes six burritos.

Ingredients

Meatloaf:

1 pound ground beef or a mixture of beef and pork (I like using a ½ pound of each.)

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1/2 cup onion

1/4 cup red bell pepper

1/4 cup orange bell pepper

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1 egg

1/3 cup bread crumbs

1/4 cup milk or heavy cream

1/2 tablespoon ketchup

1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon parsley

 

Glaze:

3 1/2 tablespoons ketchup

1 1/2 tablespoons mustard

3 tablespoons brown sugar

 

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

6 (8-inch) flour tortillas

Burrito Fixings- Cheese, Refried Beans, Etc. (Optional) I tried plain, with cheese, and bean and cheese, and they were all yummy.

 

Directions

Meatloaf:

Heat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Add onions and peppers and cook until soft and onions are translucent. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the egg, bread crumbs, milk, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper, cumin, chili powder, and parsley. Add the vegetables and meat and mix until combined.

Transfer the meat mixture to a parchment-lined pan. I chose a 10 X 10. Shape the mixture into a loaf and bake for 20 minutes.

Make the glaze by combining ketchup, mustard, and brown sugar in a small bowl. Brush the meatloaf with the glaze and bake another 25 minutes or until the meatloaf’s internal temperature reads 155-160 degrees F. Remove the meatloaf from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes.

Putting It All Together:

Cut the meatloaf into 6 slices. Break up a slice and spread over a tortilla, along with anything else you want to add. Fold the sides and roll up the tortilla. Repeat with the rest of the meatloaf slices.

Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Lightly brown the burritos on all sides and serve!

Johnny Test Burritos (2)Johnny Test Meatloaf Burritos

Johnny’s dad was really on to something with the whole meatloaf burrito idea. And mine don’t stink at all! Even my anti-meatloaf sister enjoyed her’s. Too bad, because then there’d be more for me. Now just because I made a yummy meatloaf, doesn’t mean I’m going to eat one every day. That’s where poor Hugh messes up. As for myself, I think I’ll have spaghetti for dinner.

Tune in next week for more Cartoon Cravings!