Snow Day, Birthday, Food Day

Today was a snow day and it was as cold as a witch's...uh, colder than a welldigger's...er...it was really, really cold outside.

It was also my birthday. 45 if you're counting.

Kat and I kept warm by baking today. I made myself a bright, sunny lemon roll-up for my birthday cake. It's kind of like the pumpkin roll I made at Thanksgiving. I used a Pillsbury recipe for the cake, but I changed up the filling to my own liking. I also used one 17 x 12 half-sheet pan instead of the two 13 x 9 pans called for in the recipe. I've posted both recipes below.


Double Lemon Roll-Ups (Pillsbury recipe)

Rolls:
4 eggs
1/2 cup water
1 pkg. Pillsbury lemon cake mix
powdered sugar

Filling:
1 can Pillsbury ready to spread lemon or vanilla frosting
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup chopped nuts

Heat oven to 350°F. Grease two 13 x 9 pans, line bottoms with waxed paper and grease again.

In large bowl, beat eggs until thick and lemon-colored, about 5 minutes; stir in water. Gradually stir in cake mix at low speed; blend well. Pour half of batter into each prepared pan.

Bake at 350°F for 15 to 20 minutes. Generously sprinkle two clean cloths with powdered sugar. Remove cakes from oven and immediately invert onto cloths. Remove pans and peel off paper. Starting from shorter end, roll hot cake and cloth together. Cool 5 to 8 minutes in towel on rack.

In small bowl, combine frosting and cream cheese; beat until smooth. Fold in nuts. Gently unroll warm cakes and spread each with half of frosting mixture; re-roll. Refrigerate immediately. Slice to serve. Store in refrigerator.

Makes 16 servings.


Double Lemon Roll (my version)

Cake:
4 eggs
1/2 cup water
1 lemon cake mix (any brand)

Filling:

8 oz. cream cheese, softened
4 Tablespoons butter, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
powdered unsweetened lemonade mix (Kool-Aid)

Heat oven to 350°F. Spray bottom and sides of one 17 x 12 half-sheet pan with pan spray, line bottom with parchment paper and spray again.

In large bowl, beat eggs until thick and lemon-colored, about 5 minutes; stir in water. Gradually stir in cake mix at low speed; blend well. Spread batter into prepared pan.

Bake at 350°F for 15 minutes. Generously sprinkle a large clean cloth with powdered sugar. Remove cake from oven and immediately invert onto cloth. Remove pan and peel off paper. Starting from shorter end, roll hot cake and cloth together. Cool 5 to 8 minutes in towel on rack.

In small bowl, combine cream cheese, butter and powdered sugar until smooth, using handheld mixer. Add Kool-Aid powder, 1/8 teaspoon at a time, until flavor is as "bright" as desired (for us, 5/8 teaspoon). Gently unroll warm cakes and spread with filling; re-roll. Refrigerate immediately. Or just set it on top of the freezer in the cold, cold garage for 5 minutes. Slice to serve. Store in refrigerator.

Makes 16 servings.

But that's not all...

Kat and also made vanilla and chocolate spritz cookies (recipes tomorrow, probably).

Then I finally got around to trying Lisa's Baked Ziti recipe along with some garlic toast for supper. Very easy and very good!