Okay, so this recipe may end up sounding complicated because I made it 2 different ways from 3 different recipes. Originally I did a web search to try to find a recipe similar to Cheesecake Factory’s cheesecake/cake combos. I think I had a slice of their Reeses Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake Cheesecake when I was there last. Oooh la and la!

I found a recipe similar to what I wanted on another blog. I have lost the blog address so I can’t share that with you. I took the cheesecake layers and made my own combination.

I showed you pictures of the Strawberry version I made but I only have that one shot. So I’ll give you the turtle version first.

 

Cheesecake Layer
4 – 8 oz. cream cheese
1 c. sugar
4 eggs

Preheat oven to 350*. Beat cream cheese and sugar together in mixer until softened. Beat in the eggs just until well blended. Pour into 2 waxed paper lined and greased 9-inch springform pan. Bake at 35-40 minutes or until middle is set and not jiggly. Remove and let cool completely. Refrigerate overnight or for at least 2-3 hours.

 

Chocolate Cake
2 c. sugar
1 3/4 c. flour
3/4 c. cocoa
1 ½ tsp. baking powder
1 ½ tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 c. milk½ c. oil
2 tsp. vanilla
1 c. boiling water

Combine dry ingredients. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla. Beat for 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water; the batter is very thin. Pour into 3 greased and floured 9-inch cake pans. Bake at 350* until toothpick comes out clean. (25-ish minutes. Original recipe was for a bundt cake so I’m not sure of time.) Let set for about 10 minutes before removing from pan and placing onto waxed paper until ready to assemble the cake.

 

Chocolate Buttercream Icing
1/2 c. shortening
1/2 c. butter
1 tsp. vanilla
4 c. powdered sugar, sifted
2 tbsp. milk
3/4 c. cocoa

Start by placing a chocolate cake layer on bottom of cake plate. If your layers have domed at all, slice them off to be as even as possible. Add a layer of Chocolate Icing. Remove waxed paper from bottom of cheesecake and place on top of icing.

Now this is where it gets sticky (har har) – I didn’t have a recipe for a caramel sauce that would be thick enough to work. I first tried melting Brach’s caramel bits and didn’t keep my eye on them and before I knew it, they were smoking in the microwave!

Started over and melted more, and then added a little butter and some caramel ice cream topping. Well, it was good but it was way too soft. As long as the cake stayed chilled, it was fine. It even helped that the cheesecake had a bit of a lip. But, when the cake got room temperature, it started oozing just a bit.

So if you come up with a better caramel layer, feel free to let me know. 🙂

Repeat layers until it looks somewhat like this.

Finish off by covering everything with chocolate icing. Pour caramel topping over top of cake and then top with chopped pecans. Keep chilled until ready to serve. This cake is fairly tall and rich so it will easily serve 20. And it has a bazillion calories.

For a shortcut use a cake mix. Personally I don’t care for cake mixes with a few exceptions of recipes that build on them or take them out a different direction (turtle bars, dump cake, earthquake cake, etc.). To me they’re just not as good as a made-from-scratch cake.

Or to make it really rich, replace the cake with brownie layers instead! Or make 2 cake layers and 2 brownie layers. All kinds of options.

Now for the La Vita Dolce Strawberry Cake version:

I used the Muffins That Taste Like Donuts recipe, which is kind of a lightly spiced flavor. I’ll share another dessert version using that recipe some other time.

1 3/4 c. flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/3 c. oil
3/4 c. white sugar
1 eggs
3/4 c. milk

In a bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt, numbeg and cinnamon. In another bowl combine oil, sugar, egg and milk. Add liquid to dry ingredients and stir only to combine. Pour into 2 greased and floured 9-inch cake pans. Bake at 350* for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Let cool for a little bit before removing from pans.

Cream Cheese Strawberry Icing
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 tsp. vanilla
½ c. butter, softened
1 lb. powdered sugar
¼ cup chopped strawberries or strawberry freezer jam

Whip cream cheese and butter until nice and creamy. Add vanilla and powdered sugar until smooth. Add strawberries and whip until blended.

Assemble this just like the photo shows. If you want a good amount of icing, you may have to make a recipe and a half. When I served this, I added a scoop of ice cream and topped with sliced, fresh strawberries.

I sold tickets for an Italian supper spring of 2010 and it was January of 2011 until we managed to find a date that would suit all four couples who bought tickets. I went back and forth trying to decide what to make. I earlier thought I would make Penne Rustica, an entree by Macaroni Grill but in the end decided to go with something different.

 

I had visions of doing an outdoor meal like Christy did a few years back but when it ended up being scheduled for January, I gave up that idea.

 

Here is the menu.

 My sister made the fresh herb dipping oil which is better than any other dipping oil that I’ve ever had!! She uses fresh rosemary and basil and garlic and I’m not sure what all else. She smashes it to get every bit of flavoring out of it.

I made fresh bread using a recipe from our friend Beat(rice).

 
Come to think of it, the Chicken Marsala recipe was from her too. She is the kitchen supervisor at Faith Builders and let me tell you, there’s some mighty fine cooking done there!

The recipe I’m going to share with you today is Laurie’s Stuffed Manicotti. And if I have shared that before, please forgive me. I just happen to love it! And I happen to be hungry. Bad combination.

I don’t know who Laurie is. I got this recipe out of a magazine quite a number of years ago and for some reason I feel compelled to keep that name attached. Whoever Laurie is, she came up with some delicious manicotti!

1 lb. mild bulk pork sausage
2 (15 oz.) cans Hunt’s Italian tomato sauce
1 (6 oz.) can Hunt’s tomato paste
1/4 c. water
1/2 TBSP. packed light brown sugar
1 (15 oz.) container ricotta cheese
3 c. shredded Mozzarella cheese
1 egg
1 tsp. parsley flakes
12 manicotti noodles, cooked, rinsed, drained
Grated Parmesan cheese

In large saucepan, brown sausage, drain. Remove half of sausage, set aside. Stir tomato sauce, paste, water and brown sugar into sausage, simmer 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, in bowl, combine remaining sausage, ricotta, 2 cups Mozzarella, egg and parsley.

In 9x13x2 inch baking dish, pour 1/3 of sauce mixture. Stuff manicotti noodles with ricotta mixture and place on top of sauce. Pour remaining sauce over stuffed noodles. Top with remaining Mozzarella, sprinkle with Parmesan. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

 

 

Make sure you don’t cook the noodles too long or they will tear apart.

 

The best way to fill them is to put the filling in a bag, cut the corner of the bag and squeeze it into the noodles.

 

We have already made this ahead of time and frozen it to take to a girls beach party. I think we’ve done that several times, actually. All you have to do is bake it!

 

Spinach would be good in there too! And mushrooms on top! I’ll leave you to drool now.

I don’t have any photos of the completed meal. By that time I was desparately flying around the kitchen, trying to stay a bite ahead of my hungry guests.

Oh, and for dessert I had a hard time deciding what would Italian enough to make. I’ve never made tiramisu and didn’t feel like tackling it in case it didn’t turn out. So, I decided to make this and it got an Italian name, courtesy of Lois.

La Vita Dolce Strawberry Cake
(The Sweet Life)

 

It has cheesecake and spice cake layers, separated by cream cheese strawberry icing.

You want the recipe?

Well, you’ll have to wait. I have to find it first, or at least reconstruct it. And then I’ll give a you a turtle/chocolate version too. Make life hard for you by making you choose between the two.