Chocolate Tomato Cake

Got this recipe from P Allen Smith's newsletter.  Going to give it a try later on this week. I'll let you know if we liked it or not.

Cake Ingredients

• ½ cup margarine
  
• ½ cup shortening
  
• 2 cups sugar
  
• 2 eggs
  
• ¼ cup cocoa
  
• 2 cups flour
  
• 1 teaspoon baking soda                                                             
  
• ½ cup tomato juice
  
• 1 cup hot water
  
• 1 ½ cups miniature marshmallows
  
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Icing Ingredients

• ½ cup margarine
  
• ¼ cup tomato juice
  
• 2 tablespoons water
  
• 4 tablespoons cocoa
  
• ¼ teaspoon salt
  
• 3½ cups powdered sugar, sifted
  
• 1 cup chopped pecans (toasted)

Instructions

Line a 15½ x 10½ x 1-inch jelly roll pan with parchment paper. Spray the parchment paper with non-stick spray.
Cream together margarine, shortening and sugar. Add eggs one at a time beating well after each.
Sift together cocoa, flour and soda. Add to butter mixture, combining thoroughly.
Combine tomato juice, hot water and marshmallows; add to batter.
Add vanilla. Batter will be thin and marshmallows will come to top.
Pour the batter into the prepared jelly roll pan. Bake in preheated 350°F oven for 35 minutes.
Turn cake out onto a cutting board and start on the icing.
Combine the margarine, tomato juice, water, cocoa and salt in a sauce pan and heat until boiling. Pour this mixture over the powdered sugar and beat well. Stir in the nuts.
Spread the hot icing over the cake. The icing sets up quickly so you have to work fast.

RECIPE WEEKLY #2--JELLO PIE

Jello Pie

2/3 cup boiling water

1 pkg.  (4-serving size)  Strawberry Jello

Ice cubes

1/2 cup  cold water

1 tub (8 oz.)Cool Whip, thawed,

1   Ready-to-use graham cracker crumb crust (6 oz.)

STIR boiling water into dry gelatin mix in large bowl at least 2 min. until completely dissolved. Add enough ice to cold water to measure 1 cup. Add to gelatin; stir until slightly thickened. Remove any unmelted ice. Add 2 cups of the whipped topping; stir with wire whisk until well blended. Refrigerate 30 min. or until mixture is very thick and will mound.

SPOON into crust. Refrigerate 4 hours or until firm.

TOP with the remaining whipped topping just before serving. Store leftover pie in refrigerator.

Cherry Yum Yum

While entering a contest this last week, I was asked about my favorite dessert. I decided I would share this wonderfully easy cool summertime treat .

Cherry Yum Yum

1 pkg instant white chocolate Jello pudding

1 pkg instant cheesecake Jello pudding

1 medium container Cool Whip

2 to 3 cans cherry pie filling

Graham cracker crumbs

Put graham cracker crumbs in bottom of container. I use a 9 X 13 glass casserole dish. Mix both boxes of pudding according to directions on box. I do this in one big bowl. (Be sure you double the milk as there are two boxes.) Mix half the container of Cool Whip in the pudding. Place a layer of cherry pie filling on graham cracker crumbs, then a layer of

pudding mixture. Repeat layering ending with left over Cool Whip on top. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving. I often will substitute blueberry pie filling for 1 can of cherry and will put cherry on one end and blueberry on the other. This also makes a great red, white and blue dessert for the 4^th.  

Oh, and if you don't like fruit, I will also use the basic recipe and use broken up Oreo cookies (leave out the Graham cracker crumbs too) in place of the pie fillings. The kids and hubby love it. Really a quick and easy dessert, one I fix often in the summer.