Take That Cancer! -or- Strawberry-Pomegranate Cake

Hal's school had a cake auction to benefit Relay for Life, a race that raises money for the American Cancer Society. Since it was heading into Easter weekend, we wanted to make a lovely springtime cake worthy of the Easter table. What I came up with is a rip on one of Sandra Lee's recipes. You know how I like to replace water with alcohol in my baking - well this was a similar idea. Make a regular strawberry cake according to directions, cutting oil down to 1/4 cup and replacing the water with one 11.3-oz can of strawberry nectar. I found this in my local Kroger's international section for $0.50. It would also have been great with pomegranate juice.

This is where I went in a bit of a different direction: between layers, I added pomegranate jam mixed with strawberries slurried in my food processor. It was probably about a cup of strawberries, and then I just mixed in the jam until it was thick enough to stay put on top of the cake. I think this added an extra layer of flavor, and brought down the sweetness just a touch.

With a thick layer of the mixture between cake layers, I mixed 1 container of whipped cream cheese frosting with half a container of strawberry frosting, and added two small shakes of ground cardamom - just enough to bring in that lovely floral scent and a hint of spice, again to calm the sweetness since there is SO much strawberry in the cake. Apply frosting generously. :)

I'm happy to say that the cake looked lovely in the auction, and sold for $50. What a sweet way to start the Easter weekend!

PS - I believe I have now corrected the issue with email followers being able to comment, if you care. :)

Grilled Greek Pizza

Spring came back to Atlanta today, so of course I wanted to use the grill tonight. Greek pizza, fired on the grill for a few minutes, was the perfect end to a lovely day.

1 refrigerated pizza crust
Olive Oil
1 Italian sausage
1/4 onion, sliced very thin
1 garlic clove, minced
Feta cheese crumbles
1/2 lemon, sliced very thin
Oregano to taste
Shredded mild cheddar (or mozzarella)

Brown the sausage, breaking into crumbles (easiest if you remove the casing first). Remove to a paper-towel lined plate once done, leaving the remaining fat in the pan. Add the onions and garlic to the pan and cook down until the onions are nicely carmelized. Scoop out and add to paper-towel lined plate. Add a bit of olive oil into the pan now if the fat has mostly gone - just enough to cover most of the bottom. Add the lemon slices, and fry until they just start to brown. Add these to the paper towel once done also.

To build the pizza: drizzle olive oil onto the crust and spread out very thinly. Start with less oil than you think you need - you can always add more, but you just want to make sure the crust is covered throughout, no more than that. Sprinkle the sausage on first, then spread out the onion/garlic mix. Cut the lemons into small chunks and sprinkle those on, then the chunks of Feta. Sprinkle a bit of oregano over the top (to taste - but you generally don't need much, it's a strong flavor). Since Feta doesn't melt, add some other shredded cheese to pull it together. I used mild cheddar, because I had it on hand, and the flavor worked really well with the fried lemon (which is not bitter anymore, but just the perfect slightly sour punch). Bake the pizza at 450 for about 10 minutes, then pull it out of the oven and slap it on the grill for another 5-7 minutes - this gives the crust an awesome charred flavor, perfect for enjoying on a lovely spring evening!