Chocolate Raspberry Cake

Gather your ingredients:
1 box Chocolate Cake Mix
Eggs, Oil, water as mix calls for
1) 12oz. bag Frozen Raspberries
24 oz. Cream Cheese icing (16 oz. for 1 layer cake)
2 Tbs. Raspberry Preserves
¼ cup flour
Chocolate Sundae Syrup

Defrost berries by placing in colander and running lukewarm water over them. Drain very well.
Preheat oven and prepare cake mix as package directs.
Prepare pans by spraying with vegetable spray (Pam). Place about 2 tbs. flour pan(s) and swirl to dust the bottom and sides. This makes removing the cake easier.
Pour batter into one 13x9” or two 8” round pans.
Using a teaspoon, put little drops of raspberries over the batter. Use the baking times from the box as a guideline, cake may take a little longer.
Let cool enough to handle.
For 13x9” cake let cool till just warm. Ice with cream cheese icing (it will melt in slightly) and serve warm.
For double layer cake:
Remove cake by inverting a plate over the cake and flipping the plate and cake over. You want the bottom of the cake to be on the cake serving plate, so do this again with the cake serving plate. Spread the cake top with some raspberry preserves. They should melt in.
Place second cake on top, both tops of the cake should be together. This gives you a flat cake surface (baker’s secret!)
I like to put some icing on while the cake is still warm so it melts in. Fill in the gaps between cake tops (middle of cake) with icing. Let cool then chill to make the icing firm.
Ice the sides then the top of the cake with the remaining icing until you no longer see the chocolate.
A nice presentation is to drizzle chocolate syrup on the plate. Warm the preserves in the microwave for a few seconds and drizzle that with the chocolate. Place slice of cake on plate and drizzle a little more preserves over the chocolate cake.
Enjoy!
Variations:
Ice with chocolate icing.
Use strawberries in place of raspberries.
Use white cake mix with chopped (canned or frozen/thawed/drained) apples and walnuts.
Use white cake mix with chopped (canned or frozen/thawed/drained) peaches and raspberries, top with vanilla cool whip.
Check out the YouTube Video for slides of the cake making process.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWsp9dN9GgI

King Crab Bisque

Here is another Cafe Wrold menu item that my husband has been making for years. This was one of the favorites at our restaurant, and so easy even I can cook it.
Ingredients:
3 (6 oz.) cans Chicken of the Sea crabmeat
1 slice bacon (I prefer Hatfield)
3 Tbs. butter
1/4 cup flour
1 cup chopped onions
2 cups diced potatoes
1 quart cream
1 bay leaf
1 tsp. Old Bay seasoning
1/2 tsp. Thyme
salt & pepper to taste

Saute bacon in butter slowly over low heat in a soup pot, about 10 minutes. Add onion, potatoes, bay leaf, Old Bay and thyme. Continue sauteing for 20 minutes. Add the flour and mix thoroughly. Cook over low heat an additional 15 minutes. Add the crab and cream. Slowly bring the temperature up to just below a simmer and cook for 5 minutes to blend the flavors. You now have a delicous crab soup and can stop right here.
To make a bisque, let the soup cool and run through your blender or food processor till smooth. Reheat. Enjoy!
Serves 10
Here is the YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5I8Vwx9Ynkk

Triple Berry Cheescake

Ever since I saw the Triple Berry Cheesecake on Cafe' World I've been wanting some. This is an easy recipe and the result is to die for.

1 Keebler Brand Ready Made Crust, Chocolate
2 pkg.(8 oz. each) reduced fat Philadelphia Brand Cream Cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 egg beaters (or 2 eggs)

Heat oven to 325°F
Beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla with mixer until well blended. Add egg substitute, (if using real eggs, beat in one at a time) mixing until blended. Pour into crust.
Bake 25min. (ovens vary) or until the top is just about dry. Refrigerate 1 1/2 hours or until chilled.
Topping:
1 cup each blueberries, strawberries (sliced) and raspberries
1/4 cup Maple Grove Farms Strawberry Syrup
I used frozen berries, thawed. Simply mix together.
Drizzle with Hershey's Double Chocolate Sundae Syrup.
Serves 8 (or 2 women 4 times)
To view the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnP9Yk6VjTE