Stir Fried Chicken and Raspberry Sponge Cake

This is a quick and easy Stir Fry that my family loves. Add some egg rolls and you

have a great dinner.

Once again, I just throw this stuff together so I will try to get measurements close.

Drain a can of water chestnuts and bean sprouts. For my family I use two of each.

Chop celery. I use about 3 - 5 stalks.

Slice one green pepper.

Slice one onion.

1/4 - 1/2 t ginger.

Stir fry the veggies with the ginger in a wok or pan with 2 T oil. I use olive or canola oil. Cook about 1 - 3 minutes just until tender crisp. Remove from pan.

Cut chicken breasts into bite sized pieces. I use 1 breast per 2 servings. Stir fry chicken until meat is completely cooked. Add the stir fried veggies and the canned veggies back into the pan.

Add 1 - 2 Cups broth. I add a little more because we all like the juice. Bring to a boil.

Mix 2 t. of cornstarch with 2 T soy sauce. You can adjust this to your taste.

Create a pool of juice in the middle of the dish.

Add the soy mix and stir in completely until thickens.

Serve over rice. There are healthier rice alternatives but we seem to fall back on this.

You can add mushrooms, pea pods or other vegetables. This is what our family likes. Leftovers are rare.

Raspberry Sponge Cake

This is a nice heavy moist cake that will become one of your favorite special cakes.

Pre-heat oven to 350

Add 1/2 C softened butter to

1/2 C Crisco and

2 C sugar. Cream together.

Take 5 eggs and separate.

Egg yolks and Egg whites. Add the egg yolks one at a time and mix after each one. Keep the egg white for later.

Add 1 - 1 1/2 t. vanilla and mix.

Add 2 C flour and 1 t. soda alternately with

1 C buttermilk. Mix well.

Add 1/2 C coconut. You could add 1/2 C walnuts also. My family nixes the nuts.

Beat egg whites and add 1/2 t cream of tartar when beating. Beat until stiff.

Egg whites should be stiff enough to form peaks. Carefully fold the egg whites into the batter.

Distribute the cake batter evenly into 3 - 9 inch greased and paper lined cake pans.

Bake 350 for 25 to 30 minutes. Check towards the end so you don't over bake. Insert a toothpick and it should come out clean when baked.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Add 3/4 C softened butter to

11 ounces of softened cream cheese - room temperature and mix well.

Add 2 t vanilla and mix.

Add in small amounts mixing as you go 6 1/2 C powdered sugar.

Warm 1/2 C seedless raspberry jam. You can use more if you prefer, don't make the jam so thick on
the cake that the layers slide around.

On the plate you want to serve the cake, add a smidge of frosting in the middle to help keep the cake from sliding around. Place pieces of parchment paper on the outside of the plate. You will place the first layer on these papers. The papers will be removed after frosting, keeping the plate clean.

Spread 1/2 of the raspberry filling on the first layer. Keep it away from the edge. If you want to do it right you could pipe cream cheese frosting around the perimiter of the cake to help keep the raspberry jam from running into your frosting. I find that if you keep the jam back from the edge it works fine.