LITTLE ROCK — Recipes that appear in Idea Alley have not been tested by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Calling all Alley Kats: We need and welcome your recipes. Idea Alley depends on reader participation. Recipes do not need to be in response to requests.
Dave Johnson shares this recipe for butter beans and ham. Johnson notes the beans can be prepared using the traditional overnight soaking, or by using the “quick” soak method.
However, the “quick soak” beans do not hold their shape and “look sad.”
“Either way they taste outstanding,” Johnson writes.
Butter Beans and Ham
1 (16-ounce) package dried
large lima beans, about 2
cups 6 cups water 1 medium onion, minced 1 rib celery, minced 5 chicken bouillon cubes 1/2 pound ham minced OR 1
ham bone with ham on it 1 tablespoon Sriracha sauce
Soak beans overnight in enough water to cover.
In a large pot, combine 6 cups water, the onion, celery, bouillon cubes and ham. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer 2 hours.
Drain and rinse the beans.
Add beans and Sriracha to the pot and cook until beans are tender, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
Co-workers oohed and aahed over this rich and delicious cake, inspired by the popular caramel-pecan-chocolate candy by the same name.
This recipe, shared by Claudia Lauer, is the quick version of the cake;
however, you will still want to plan plenty of time for baking, cooling, assembly and setting.
Turtle Cake in a Hurry
For the cake: 1 cup toasted chopped
almonds, divided use 1 cup toasted chopped pecans,
divided use 1 (18 1/4-ounce) box Betty
Crocker German chocolate
cake mix (see notes) 3 eggs 1/3 cup vegetable oil 11/4 cups water 1/2 cup unsalted butter 3 to 4 cups confectioners’
sugar 1 (8-ounce) package cream
cheese, softened Milk, as needed Icing: 13/4 cups confectioners’ sugar 3 tablespoons unsweetened
cocoa powder 1/4 cup unsalted butter 5 tablespoons whole milk 3/4 cup semisweet chips or
bittersweet chocolate chips 1 to 2 teaspoons vanilla
extract (see notes) 1/2 cup store-bought caramel
sauce
For the cake:
Heat oven to 350 degrees.
Butter and flour a 9-by-13-inch pan. Spread 1/2 cup each of toasted almonds and pecans on bottom; set aside.
In a mixing bowl, combine cake mix, eggs, oil and water until just combined. Pour over nuts in prepared baking pan;
set aside.
Melt butter.
Place 3 to 3 1/2 cups of the confectioners’ sugar in a separate mixing bowl. Pour the melted butter over the confectioners’ sugar. Add the softened cream cheese.
Depending on texture, you can add more sugar or a little bit of milk.
It shouldn’t be a dough-like texture, but it shouldn’t be as thin as icing.
Drop streams of the cream cheese onto the cake batter and slightly swirl. Do not overmix them or the cream cheese will sink to the bottom or will become too homogenized pretty quickly.
Bake 50 to 55 minutes.
Let cool in pan on rack.
Sprinkle with remaining nuts.
For icing:
Mix the 1 3/4 cups confectioners’ sugar and the cocoa in a medium bowl; set aside.
In a small saucepan, melt butter and milk together until butter is just melted. Add chocolate chips and remove from heat and stir until smooth.
Add the vanilla and melted chocolate to the confectioners’ sugar mixture and stir until combined. It will be thick and easy to drizzle.
Drizzle in desired pattern over top of cake. You may have some left depending on whether you want to cover the whole cake or not.
Once set and completely cool (from the refrigerator) you can add the caramel in drizzles and it will pool on the top of the cake a little better.
Note: It is important to use an 18-ounce box of cake mix;
other brands may not be large enough.
If using bittersweet chocolate, increase vanilla to 2 teaspoons.
Send recipe requests, contributions and culinary questions to Kelly Brant, Idea Alley, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, P.O. Box 2221, Little Rock, Ark. 72203; e-mail:
Please include a daytime phone number.
Food, Pages 38 on 05/30/2012