(Cream Cheese Mints, Fruit Slush Punch, Topsy Turvy Cake)
Cream Cheese Mints
3 3/4 cups powdered sugar
3 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 tsp mint flavoring
food coloring
granulated sugar
Incorporate the mint flavoring and food coloring into the cream cheese. Mix in the powdered sugar. Roll the dough into small balls. Roll the balls in the granulated sugar. Press into mint molds. Unmold onto a cookie sheet lined with wax paper. Let the mints dry uncovered at room temperature (12-24 hours). They freeze well.
Fruit Slush Punch
4 cups sugar
4 cups water
6 oz can frozen orange juice concentrate
1/2 cup lemon juice
46 oz can pineapple juice
2-3 two-liter bottles of ginger ale or 7Up
Combine sugar and water in a medium saucepan. Heat until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat. Add orange juice concentrate, lemon juice, and pineapple juice. Stir until well blended. Pour into freezer containers (about the size of 12 oz or 16 oz whipped topping containers). Freeze until firm. Use within 6 months.
To Make Punch: Remove frozen slush from freezer. Place in a large punch bowl. Let sit about 30 minutes. Gradually add ginger ale slushing the mixture with a wooden spoon. Add enough pop to cover.
Variation: To make individual glasses of punch, freeze mixture in ice cube trays. (Makes about 100 cubes.) Fill a glass with frozen slush cubes then fill with ginger ale, stirring until slushy.
My absolute favorite birthday cake is Mom’s Topsy Turvy Cake. This whimsical creation starts with a boxed white cake mix. Using a creamy Oreo filling, Mom unevenly stuffs this decadent dessert to give it its signature slant. Buttercream frosting tops it off and provides the perfect foundation for fun decorations. Mom typically added polka dots and made fake candles out of almond bark. She would stick them in at all different angles enhancing the topsy turviness of the cake!
Topsy Turvy Cake
1 white cake mix or your favorite white cake baked in two 8″ or 9″ round cake pans according to package directions
1 large package chocolate Oreo cookies
1 recipe Creamy Filling (recipe following)
1 recipe Buttercream Frosting (recipe following)
Creamy Filling
1 cup milk
4 Tablespoons flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup Crisco shortening
1 teaspoon salt
Combine the flour and milk in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly until thick and smooth. Boil 1 minute. Cool completely. In a large mixer bowl, mix together sugar, shortening, vanilla, and salt. Beat until smooth (3-5 minutes). Add the cooled flour mixture, and beat until creamy and smooth (about 7-10 minutes).
Buttercream Frosting
1 cup Crisco shortening
4 cups powdered sugar
2-4 Tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 teaspoon butter flavoring
1 teaspoon vanilla
Cream the shortening and flavorings in a large mixing bowl. Add the powdered sugar gradually with enough milk until it reaches a spreading consistency. Continue beating until well blended and creamy.
To Assemble Cake:
Place one cake layer on a cake plate. Crush half of the package of Oreos leaving large chunks. Gently stir Oreos into half of the Creamy Filling being careful not to over stir. Spread Oreo filling on top of the cake layer on the plate, piling a thicker layer of filling on one side of the cake than the other. This will make the top layer slant. (Spread evenly for a non-topsy turvy cake.) To make the cake slant even more, place additional crushed Oreos on the thick layer of filling Be careful not to over do it or the top layer will slide off after being frosted. Place the top cake layer on filling, pressing lightly into the filling. Frost with white or tinted Buttercream Frosting and decorate as desired.