Chocolate and other food groups

Ellen's Birthday cake 2009 I got the idea for this cake from a cookbook. The directions said to use a cake mix, then make the frosting from scratch, and decorate with icing gel. I did it backwards, making the cake from scratch and buying the icing. Here's the recipe for the cake. White Cake 4 egg whites 2 c. flour 1 tsp. baking powder 1/2 tsp. baking soda 1/8 ts. salt 1/2 c. shortening or butter, softened (I used butter flavor Crisco) 1 3/4 c. sugar 1 tsp. vanilla (I used the expensive kind from Williams-Sonoma) 1 1/3 c. buttermilk or sour milk Allow egg whites to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Grease and flour 2 9" cake pans or 13x9 pan. (Really coat both pans - I didn't, and my cakes stuck to the pan a little bit.) In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. Preheat oven to 350. In large mixing bowl, beat shortening at high speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar and vanilla; mix well. Add egg whites, 1 at a time, beating well...

If you are a gum chewer, you have probably tried the sweetener Xylitol. It is about as sweet as sugar, with a little bit of a fruit taste, and measures spoon for spoon the same. Since we are trying to cut carbs, I tried using some Xylitol in chocolate chip cookies. The recipe called for 1 c. sugar. I used about 2/3 c. Xylitol and 1/3 c. sugar, plus regular brown sugar, plus used fewer chocolate chips. The cookies tasted good, but were a little different. Randy asked if they had banana in them. They didn't, but that sort of fruit taste was noticeable. The other difference is that these did not spread out when cooking, but puffed up a little. Otherwise they cooked about the same. I did undercook them slightly, so they would not be dry. The main drawback to Xylitol, in my opinion, is the price. I paid about $8 for a pound, which is a lot more than sugar. However, I haven't had much success with Stevia or other natural sweeteners, and I don't really want to use Equal or somethi...

If you haven't taken a look at this website yet, it is a fun place to find other LDS folks, moms and otherwise, who have similar interests and similar blogs. I can't wait to take a look at all the yummy recipes out there. I always need new things that my kids will eat, especially now as we are trying to cut the carbs and still enjoy the food. Check it out at: http://mormonmommyblogs.blogspot.com .