Sheet cakes, brownies fill bill for guests

Thanks to Doreen Dick, who supplied a cookie sheet fudge cake recipe, and to Irma Friesen who shared her recipes for farmer's brownie and lemon sheet cake. Both readers noted that they have made their recipes many times with great success, and that they freeze well.

New requests from readers: Susan McKelvie is hoping someone may have the recipe for the health muffins served at Ten Spa at the Fort Garry Hotel. She writes that they are "beyond fantastic." Carla Klowak is looking for a recipe for the cheese sauce that was served at Le Garden Creperie that used to be downtown. She says that the cheese sauce wasn't the usual one everyone uses, but had a different flavour and was silkier.

Lastly, Florence Laprade of Renfrew, Ont. puts out another call for Winnipeg chocolate cake.

If you can help with a recipe request, have your own request, or a favourite recipe you'd like to share, send an e-mail to recipeswap@freepress.mb.ca, fax it to 697-7412, or write to Recipe Swap, c/o Darlene Henderson, Winnipeg Free Press, 1355 Mountain Ave., Winnipeg, MB, R2X 3B6. Please include your first and last name, address and telephone number. Recipes may not appear right away due to limited space.

Cookie sheet fudge cake

60 ml (1/4 cup) cocoa

15 ml (1 tbsp) instant coffee

500 ml (2 cups) sugar

5 ml (1 tsp) baking soda

500 ml (2 cups) flour

2 ml (1/2 tsp) cinnamon

1 ml (1/4 tsp) salt

250 ml (1 cup) margarine

250 ml (1 cup) hot water

2 eggs, beaten

125 ml (1/2 cup) milk

5 ml (1 tsp) vanilla

Mix together cocoa and coffee, then add other dry ingredients and mix well. Put margarine and hot water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Pour over dry ingredients and beat until smooth. Add eggs, milk and vanilla. Beat well. Bake in a greased and floured cookie sheet at 350 F for approximately 25 minutes.

Icing

125 ml (1/2 cup) margarine

80 ml (1/3 cup) milk

250 ml (1 cup) marshmallows

30 ml (2 tbsp) cocoa

5 ml (1 tsp) vanilla

500 ml (2 cups) icing sugar

Place margarine, milk and marshmallows in saucepan over medium heat and stir. Add cocoa and stir until all is well blended. Remove from heat. Add vanilla and icing sugar. Mix well. Spread on cooled cake. Freezes well.

Taste Tester Notes: Tasty and moist, with just a hint of cinnamon. When making the icing, sift the icing sugar in and stir vigorously until there is no white remaining and icing is smooth. It will start to set as it cools, so spread it on quickly for a smooth finish. The icing is fairly sweet, so this can be cut into small squares and will go a long way. I used an 11 x 17 x 1-inch pan.

Farmer's brownie

500 ml (2 cups) white sugar

500 ml (2 cups) flour

5 ml (1 tsp) baking soda

250 ml (1 cup) margarine

60 ml (4 tbsp) cocoa

250 ml (1 cup) water

125 ml (1/2 cup) buttermilk

2 eggs

5 ml (1 tsp) vanilla

Icing

250-g bag mini-marshmallows

500 ml (2 cups) chocolate chips

250 ml (1 cup) peanut butter

Sift sugar, flour and baking soda in a bowl. Combine margarine, cocoa and water in a pot and bring to a rapid boil. Remove from heat and pour sifted dry ingredients into pot and mix well. Then stir in eggs, buttermilk and vanilla. Bake in a 18 x 12-inch baking sheet at 400 F for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove cake from oven and spread marshmallows over top and return to oven for about 1 minute (just until marshmallows puff up). Cool.

Put chocolate chips in microwave safe container and microwave on high for 2 minutes or until chips are melted. Add peanut butter and stir until smooth, then spread on cake. This freezes very well.

Taste Tester Notes: This brownie with a puffy white marshmallow topping will be a hit with chocolate and peanut butter fans. It is fairly rich, so you can cut it into small squares and it will go a long way. I used a large bowl for the flour mixture, and then added the boiled mixture to it, and used an electric mixer to blend it all after adding the eggs, milk and vanilla. I baked it in a greased 11 x 17 x 1-inch pan for about 18 minutes. I had a 400-gm bag of mini-marshmallows, and just put them all on, which took about 2 minutes in the oven to puff up and meld together, and used dark chocolate chips (50 per cent cocoa). After refrigerating or freezing, let top soften somewhat before cutting so that it doesn't crack.

Lemon sheet cake

510-g pkg lemon cake mix

4 eggs

60 ml (1/4 cup) water

540-ml can E.D. Smith lemon pie filling

In a bowl mix cake mix, eggs and water until well blended. Fold in lemon pie filling. Spread in a 18 x 12-inch cookie sheet. Bake at 350 F for 18 to 20 minutes. Cool. Frost with icing. This freezes very well and always gets great reviews.

Icing

250 g cream cheese

125 ml (1/2 cup) margarine

7 ml (1 1/2 tsp) vanilla

250-375 ml (1 to 1 1/2 cups) icing sugar

30 ml (2 tbsp) Epicure Lemon Chiffon (optional) or grated rind of a lemon

Taste Tester Notes: I don't normally use cake mixes or canned pie filling, but combined with the icing, this turned out moist, light and lemony, and good. I used an electric mixer briefly to blend the mix, eggs and water, and baked the cake for 20 minutes in a greased 11 x 17 x 1-inch pan (it should spring lightly to the touch and a toothpick come out clean when done). For the icing, I used an electric mixer to blend the ingredients until smooth, using room temperature cream cheese and butter instead of margarine. Start with the lesser amount of icing sugar and then add enough to make desired spreading consistency. Epicure Lemon Chiffon is from a product line usually sold at home parties. I used 15 ml (1 tbsp) very finely grated lemon rind and squeezed in about 15 ml (1 tbsp) fresh lemon juice. The lemon juice will also help thin out the icing a bit if needed.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition June 18, 2008