Coca Cola Tres Leches Cake

Cake Caffeinated...  yes, I like the sound of that. This cake is incredible to say the least! Tres Leches meets chocolate meets Coca Cola soda.  In other words, pure bliss. I love the simplicity of this cake, it starts from a cake mix but no one would know. There are two variations on this cake, if you want to do the Cherry Coca Cola version I would say the crushed cherry lollipops for garnish are a must =).  

This cake has similar flavors that remind me of one of my favorite cakes, which I'm sure nearly all of you have tried (and loved) at least once, "Better Than Sex Cake." I never though it could meet its match but here it is. This Coca Cola Tres Leches cake is an exciting, decadent must try that you will likely be adding to your favorite cakes recipe collection and sharing with others. Enjoy!

Also, check out MyCokeRewards where you can create your own recipe book and find many other exciting recipes using Coca Cola.

Compensation was provided by Coca-Cola, but Coca-Cola is not a sponsor, administrator, or involved in any other way with this pin/post. All opinions expressed are my own and not those of Coca-Cola.

Coca Cola Tres Leches Cake

Yields about 20 servings

Ingredients:

1 (15.25 oz) box Devil's Food Cake Mix (such as Betty Crocker)

1 1/4 cups Coca Cola or Cherry Coca Cola

1 Tbsp vegetable oil

4 large eggs

1 cup sweetened condensed milk

2/3 cup evaporated milk (1 5oz can)

2/3 cup heavy cream

1 cup Coca Cola or Cherry Coca Cola

Sweetened Whipped Cream Frosting:

1 1/3 cups heavy cream

1/4 cup granulated sugar

(Note: if you like cool whip you could use that instead, I just prefer the real thing)

Red Sprinkles, chocolate sprinkles or crushed cherry lollipops (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a large mixing bowl combine cake mix, 1 1/4 cups Coca Cola, vegetable oil and eggs.  Blend ingredients together using an electric mixer, on low speed for 30 seconds, then increase speed to medium and blend mixture for 2 minutes.  Pour mixture and evenly spread into a greased 13x9 baking dish.  Bake 30-35 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.  Remove from oven and allow cake to cool for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, in medium mixing bowl, whisk together sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk and 2/3 cup heavy cream.  Add in 1 cup Coca Cola and mix until combined.  Poke cake every 1/2"-1" with a long tinned fork.  Slowly pour Coca Cola milk mixture evenly over entire cake.  Allow cake to rest, uncovered for 30 minutes at room temperature.  Cover cake with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour (or overnight) until cake has cooled completely and the majority of the milk mixture has been absorbed.  

In a mixing bowl, using an electric mixer, whip heavy cream until soft peaks form.  Stir in granulated sugar and whip until stiff peaks form.  Spread sweetened whipped cream evenly over cooled cake.  Sprinkle frosted cake with optional sprinkles or crushed lollipops.  Serve immediately (note: when cutting and plating I'd recommend using a spatula to lift cake from pan, this isn't one of those cakes you can plate using a fork). Store cake in refrigerator (note that the sweetened whip cream will begin to separate after about 3 hours).

Recipe Source: Cooking Classy

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Blackened Salmon Tacos with Corn Salsa and Cilantro Lime Ranch

If you haven't noticed yet Mexican food is my favorite.  Good Mexican food just bursts with exciting flavors that all blend so perfectly well together.  Nothing is bland, and it always keeps you craving it and coming back for more.  
My latest food craze is blackened salmon.  I've been getting it at one of my favorite local Restaurants almost weekly.  When I have a new food favorite I love to come up with my own version of it at home.  These tacos are bursting with enticing flavors that will likely have you making this dish many times around.  Soft tortillas are generously filled with tender, perfectly spiced salmon, then covered with a flavorful corn salsa, then it gets a delightful crunch from Romaine lettuce and another layer of flavor from a sprinkling of cheese and last but not least one of the best parts: it's drizzled with zesty cilantro lime ranch for one intensely incredible Blackened Salmon Taco!  Yum yum YUM! 

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Blackened Salmon Tacos
Yields 4-6 tacos


Ingredients:
2 (6 0z) salmon fillets
3 Tbsp olive oil, divided


2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp packed brown sugar
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper


For Serving:
Flour or corn tortillas, warmed (for corn I'd recommend the fry cooking method I use here)
Chopped Romaine lettuce 
Cotija or Parmesan Cheese, grated/crumbled
Corn Salsa, recipe follows
Cilantro Lime Ranch, recipe can be found here

Directions:
In a shallow mixing bowl, using fork, combine flour, chili powder, paprika, brown sugar, onion powder, garlic powder, cumin, cayenne, salt and pepper.  Heat 2 Tbsp olive oil in a non-stick skillet over medium heat.  Baste salmon fillets with 1/2 tsp olive oil on each side and dip salmon into spice mixture and generously coat each side.  Place coated salmon in preheated skillet and cook 3-4 minutes per  side until outside is lightly blackened and center of fillet is cooked through and opaque.  Flake salmon using a fork.  Assemble tacos by dividing salmon among tortillas, top with lettuce, corn salsa, cheese, and drizzle with Cilantro Lime Ranch.  Serve immediately.


Corn Salsa


Ingredients:
2/3 cup frozen corn, warmed
1 medium Roma tomato, diced
1 small Avocado, diced
2 Tbsp finely chopped yellow onion
2 tsp lime juice
1 dash garlic powder
Salt and Pepper to taste


Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl.

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Cookies and Cream Popcorn

What do you make when your in a crunch for time but want a wowing, incredible and highly addictive treat?  Cookies and cream popcorn mix.  I don't know if there's a  better way to celebrate Oreos 100th birthday than by making a batch of this perfect, intensely delicious popcorn.   I didn't have time for a time consuming post today, so this was the perfect thing for me to make.  I made it in under 10 minutes!  It is one of my new favorite treats!  I couldn't stop eating it and even though it was 10:00 in the morning =).  Be warned, once you start munching it is going to be hard to stop.  I'd recommend wrapping some up in treat bags, tying them with a ribbon and gifting them to friends, neighbors or coworkers.  Enjoy!

If you love this popcorn then you may also like to try Cookies and Cream Rice Krispie Treats or Funfetti Popcorn.

Cookies and Cream Popcorn

Ingredients:

1/2 cup unpopped popcorn kernels, or 2 bags tender white popcorn

1 (12 oz) bag Vanilla Candy Melts, such as Wilton

24 Oreo cookies, chopped into pebble size pieces (about 3 cups)

Directions:

Pop popcorn kernels in popcorn popper into a very large bowl, according to manufacturers directions (or alternately in microwave if using microwave popcorn bags).  Remove any unpopped kernels.  Toss chopped Oreos into popped popcorn.

In a microwave safe bowl, melt Vanilla Candy Melts in 30 second intervals,  stirring after each interval until melted and smooth.  Drizzle half of melted candy melts over popcorn mixture.  Toss several times with a rubber spatula then drizzle remaining melted candy melts over popcorn mixture and toss mixture gently for about 30 seconds - 1 minute until evenly coated.  Pour mixture into wax paper to allow mixture to cool and candy melts to set.  Store Cookies and Cream Popcorn in an airtight container.

Recipe Source: adapted from Sing for Your Supper

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Cold Stone Creamery Sweet Cream Ice Cream - make it at home!

I want it.  No I don't.  I need it.  No I don't.  I crave it.  No, I definitely don't.  I can't live without it.  Yes, yes okay it's true =).  Ice cream is something I will never give up!  It's just one of those things that makes life good.  It makes life simple for a moment to just be able to sit back on the comfy sofa or in the warm sunshine and enjoy a generous scoop of silky smooth, perfectly sweet ice cream.  I can't explain my addiction but at least I will admit it =).  
My all time favorite is Cold Stone Creamery's Sweet Cream Ice Cream.  So, of course I've had to figure out how to make it on my own at home.  I'd have to say the recipe I created tastes exactly the same.  I did make a change in ingredients compared to what they use, they use guar gum as a thickener but I didn't want to purchase it so I used cornstarch in my recipe.  The benefits of guar gum are that you don't have to heat the ice cream in order for it to thicken, whereas with cornstarch you do.  But the benefit of cornstarch is that it is a much more common house hold ingredients so you likely already have it on hand and use it for other recipes.  
To explain Cold Stone Creamery's Sweet Cream Ice Cream I would call it The Ice Cream of the God's.  Purely decadent, silky smooth, simple yet unbelievably incredible and the perfect base for any "mix-in."  My personal favorite "mix-ins" are Oreos or brownies.  I also love raspberries and graham cracker crust.  Oh and twix, okay okay I love them all but my top fav is Oreos.  What's your favorite mix-in?  Pick your favorite and add it to this insanely delicious Sweet Cream Ice Cream recipe.  I also love to eat it excluding mix-ins, it's so amazingly good no mix-ins are needed, just a bonus if desired.

Cold Stone Creamery Sweet Cream Ice Cream
Yields about 4 servings


Ingredients:
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 Tbsp cornstarch
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
1/4 cup light corn syrup


In a large saucepan, whisk together sugar and cornstarch until combine.  Pour in cream, milk and corn syrup and whisk until well blended.  Cook mixture over medium heat (sometimes I even cook it over medium high to speed it up a bit), stirring constantly until mixture comes just to a gentle boil. Once mixture reaches a gentle boil, reduce heat and allow mixture to gently bubble, stirring constantly, for 30 seconds. Strain mixture through a fine mesh sieve into a large bowl.  Cover mixture with saran wrap or wax paper, pressing directly against the surface of the ice cream base to prevent a skin from forming.  Refrigerate mixture until fully chilled, then transfer to freezer and freeze 1 hour - 1 1/2 hours (I've found this really helps the ice cream structure when freezing post ice cream maker processing, it basically gives it a head start). Transfer extra chilled ice cream mixture to an ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturers directions.  Transfer ice cream to an airtight container and freeze until nearly firm, or freeze until firm and soften in microwave about 5-10 seconds until slightly softened.  Mix in desired "mix-ins" (if you wanted to prepare just as Cold Stone does, you could freeze a marble slab then use two large spoons to fold in mix-ins using chilled marble slab, or alternately you could add the mix-ins in during the last 5 minutes of processing in ice cream maker). 

Recommended mix ins:
crushed oreos
cookie dough bites, chopped
crushed graham cracker or graham pie crust
berries
diced brownies
sprinkles
chopped chopped candy bars
caramel, chocolate or berry sauce
crushed sugar cones or waffle cones
chocolate chips
chopped nuts
...basically whatever you feel like =)

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