Mountain Dew Cake with Mountain Dew Glaze

I've been in a super creative mood these days, and decided to expand that creativity to my kitchen. I love to cook but generally loathe baking. But, nevertheless, I wanted to make a cake for a special teenage girl Anita who was turning 18. I was inspired by some Pinterest pins of "Mountain Dew Cake." Well, Anita loves Mountain Dew. And she and my husband Arthur always "bicker" over the beverage. So I decided that was what I'd make.

I scoured the internet for recipes and found things that seemed boring and bland and some very complicated recipes trying to duplicate the "Mountain Dew" taste. I decided to adapt a recipe and here's what I came up with:

MOUNTAIN DEW BUNDT CAKE WITH MOUNTAIN DEW GLAZE
Cake Ingredients:
1 box Lemon Cake Mix
1 box Instant Vanilla Pudding
4 eggs
¾ cup vegetable oil
¼ cup orange juice concentrate
1-1/4 cup Mountain Dew Soda

Glaze Ingredients:
2 cups powdered sugar
1 Tbls Orange Juice Concentrate
1 Tbls Mountain Dew
3 drops green food coloring (optional)
2 drops yellow food coloring (optional)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Mix together cake ingredients in a stand mixer. Grease and flour bundt pan. Pour batter into bundt pan. Bake 38-45 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
Cool.
Make glaze: Add liquid to the powdered sugar and whisk. You may have to adjust the liquid/sugar to make sure the glaze is thick enough to stick to the cake but thin enough to "drip" down the sides. Add food coloring if desired.



Eat! It has a nice citrus-y flavor. Definitely reminiscent of Mountain Dew, though not an exact replication. Hope you enjoy!

Vegetarian Love

If I had a dollar for every time someone asked "What do you eat?" in regards to my vegetarian lifestyle, well I'd have at least enough for a nice new Coach bag!

Being vegetarian is not as complicated as you may think. And now, there's so many great "Substitute" meats available. [[side bar: the BEST is Soyrizo from Trader Joes!]]

So, I'm sharing what we had for dinner the other night... Rotini with Fresh Tomatoes and Cauliflower. This dish is simple, quick and delish! My carnivorous husband very much enjoyed this. :)

Pasta with Fresh Tomatoes and Cauliflower

Ingredients
1- 12 oz. box of Tricolor Rotini (I like Barilla)
1 small head of cauliflower, florets cut and well rinsed
2-4 tomatoes (depends on size), finely chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Black pepper to taste
1/2 cup Parmesan, grated
Handfull of fresh basil leaves, chopped

Directions
Put on a pot of water to boil. Meanwhile, cut cauliflower head into florets and set aside. Get out your serving bowl (everyone should have a huge pasta serving bowl). Dice tomatoes up and toss into serving bowl. Chop of your basil while you're at it and also add to the serving bowl. By this time, your water should be boiling. Dump in your pasta and set a timer for 3 minutes. While waiting for 3 minutes to pass, mince garlic. Sprinkle the salt over the garlic and mash to create a paste-like consistency. Add the garlic/salt mix to the tomatoes. By now, your timer is frantically beeping. Toss in the cauliflower with the pasta and continue to boil another 4 minutes (pasta will be al dente and the cauliflower soft). Drain pasta and cauliflower. Toss with tomatoes, garlic and basil in serving bowl. Dump in olive oil and continue to mix. Top with Parmesan cheese and black pepper if you'd like. Voila! Easy peasy. And seriously delish. We used extra cheese when we ate it and some crushed red pepper for a punch. My hubby, me and little Miss finished this in one sitting.

Mangia!