Non-stick cooking spray
1-1/3 cups orange juice
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
1 box lemon cake mix
2 tablespoons poppy seeds
Zest from orange and lemon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray bundt pan with cooking spray. Using an electric mixer, beat together the orange juice, oil and eggs. Add cake mix to batter; mix until moistened. Continue to mix for 2 minutes on high. Fold in poppy seeds and zest. Pour batter into bundt pan. Bake 30-35 minutes. Invert cake onto cake plate; cool completely. Spoon icing over cake and top with extra zest.

Icing: Combine 2 cups powdered sugar, sifted, 2-3 tablespoons orange juice and zest from an orange and a lemon. Icing should be moderately thick. Add more sugar or juice to achieve desired consistency.

Lemon: Stir 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice and 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon peel into batter.

Candy bar: Sprinkle with 1 cup chopped candy bars (3-4 bars) before baking.

Pumpkin: Mix 1/2 cup canned pumpkin, 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon and dash each of ground cloves and nutmeg into cream cheese.

Chocolate Chip: Stir 1/2 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips into batter. Sprinkle with additional 1/2 cup before baking.

2 8-ounce packages Philadelphia Brand Cream Cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
Vanilla wafers

Mix cheese, sugar, and vanilla. Add eggs. Place 12 vanilla wafers on bottom of 12 lined muffin cups. Pour cream cheese mixture into muffin cups.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until centers are almost set. Cool. Refrigerate 2 hours or overnight. Sprinkle with coconut that has been dyed green to look like Easter grass and decorate with a few colored jelly beans just before serving. Shape whip licorice to make basket handle. Makes 12 servings.

2-1/8 cups all purpose flour
2 cups white sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1-1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 20-ounce cans pitted sour cherries
1 cup white sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups heavy whipping cream
1/3 cup confectioners sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans; cover bottoms with waxed paper.

In a large bowl, combine flour, 2 cups sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add eggs, milk, oil and 1 tablespoon vanilla; beat until well blended. Pour batter into prepared pans.

Bake for 35 minutes or until wooden toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool layers in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes. Loosen edges and remove to racks to cool completely.

Drain cherries, reserving 1/2 cup juice. Combine reserved juice, cherries, 1 cup sugar and cornstarch in a 2 quart saucepan. Cook over low heat until thickened, stirring constantly. Stir in 1 teaspoon vanilla. Cool before using.

Combine whipping cream and confectioners sugar in a chilled medium bowl. Beat with an electric mixer at high speed until stiff peaks form.

With long serrated knife, split each cake horizontally in half. Tear one split layer into crumbs; set aside. Reserve 1-1/2 cups frosting for decorating cake. Set aside. Gently brush loose crumbs off top and side of each cake layer with pastry brush or hands. To assemble, place one cake layer on plate. Spread with 1 cup frosting. Top with 3/4 cup cherry topping. Top with second cake layer; repeat layers of frosting and cherry topping. Top with third cake layer. Frost side of cake. Pat reserved crumbs onto frosting on side of cake. Spoon reserved frosting into pastry bag fitted with star decorator tip. Pipe around top and bottom edges of cake. Spoon remaining cherry topping on top of cake.

‘If you prefer a less sweet cookie, you can reduce the white sugar by one-quarter cup, but you will lose some crispness. Do not over bake these cookies. The edges should be brown, but the rest of the cookie should be very light in color. Parchment paper makes for easy cookie removal and cleanup, but it is not necessary. If you don’t use parchment, cool the cookies on the baking sheet for two minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
3 cups rolled oats
1-1/2 cups raisins (optional)

1. Adjust oven racks to low and middle positions and heat oven to 350 degrees. Line two large cookie sheets with parchment paper.

2. Whisk flour, salt, baking powder, and nutmeg together in medium bowl.

3. Either by hand or with electric mixer, beat butter until creamy. Add sugars; beat until fluffy, about three minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time.

4. Stir dry ingredients into butter-sugar mixture with wooden spoon or large rubber spatula. Stir in oats and optional raisins.

5. Working with generous 2 tablespoons of dough each time, roll dough into 2-inch balls. Place balls on parchment-lined cookie sheet, leaving at least 2 inches between each ball.

6. Bake until cookie edges turn golden brown, 22-25 minutes. Halfway during baking, turn cookie sheets from front to back and also switch from top to bottom. Slide cookies, on parchment, to cooling rack. Let cool at least 30 minutes before peeling cookie from parchment.

From America’s Test Kitchens.

1 pound Filo dough at room temperature. Leave in plastic wrap until ready to use to prevent sheets from cracking
3 pounds walnuts (2 pounds ground fine; 1 pound ground coarse)
2-1/2 teaspoons cinnamon, ground fine
1-1/2 teaspoons nutmeg
1-1/2 teaspoons ground cloves
1 cup sugar
1/2 pound Crisco, melted (margarine doesn’t work as well)
1/2 pound margarine or butter, melted to coat sheets of Filo dough

Use a 17 x 12-1/2 inch cookie sheet. Brush bottom of cookie sheet with butter or margarine. Put 5 sheets son bottom, brushing each sheet with butter or margarine. Spread 3 cups of filling evenly over dough. Add 3 sheets of filo, brushing each sheet with butter or margarine. Repeat until all filling is used, then put remainder of filo dough on top, brushing each sheet with margarine or butter. Cut into shapes with a sharp knife. You can put a whole clove in the center of each piece if you wish.

Bring 1/2 pound Crisco to a high temperature (almost smoking) and pour over baklava. If you skip this step due to fat intake, baklava will not be as crispy.

Bake at 375 degrees for 35 minutes. Cool slightly, then pour syrup on top.

Syrup:
3 cups granulated sugar
2-1/2 cups water
16 ounces honey
2 ounces fresh lemon juice

Mix the above and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Cool before pouring onto baklava.

From St. Mark’s Church cookbook.

Crisp Mixture
3 tablespoons diet margarine, chilled
1 cup quick oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
6 large Granny Smith apples
2-1/2 tablespoons diet margarine
1 cup Marzetti Fat Free Caramel Apple Dip

Crisp Mixture: Cut 3 tablespoons margarine into oats, sugar, flour, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg until crumbly. Cut 1/3 top off of apples. Core out center using melon baller. Mix remaining apple pieces with crisp mixture. Spread remaining margarine inside apples. Fill apples with crisp mixture, pressing firmly. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Top with Marzetti Caramel Apple Dip. Bake for 20 more minutes. Serves 6. May serve with whipped cream or ice cream.

5 cups flour
5 sticks butter
1 pint (2 cups) creamed cottage cheese
Canned apricot filling

Soften butter, add cottage cheese and flour. Mix with hands until it forms a soft ball of dough. Chill overnight. Roll out dough in a rectangle, about 1/8 inch thick on lightly floured pastry cloth and cut dough into 1-1/2 inch strips, then out the opposite way to form squares. To make pinwheels, begin by making four cuts in square of dough, from each corner toward the center, but leave a quarter-size circle in the center of the dough uncut. It will look like four triangles that are connected in the center. Put a dollop (1/2 teaspoon) of apricot filling into the center. Fold one corner of each triangle towards center and overlap points forming a pinwheel. Bake on greased cooking sheet in a 400 degree oven for 12 minutes or until lightly browned around edges and dough is dry. Remove from pans and sift with powdered sugar. Makes 3 dozen cookies. Freezes well.

From St. Mark’s Cookbook.

1 package dry yeast
1/2 cup lukewarm water
4 cups flour
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 pound butter
4 tablespoons vegetable shortening
1/2 pint sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix yeast in water and stir in 3 tablespoons of flour. Let stand for one hour. Beat eggs, sugar, butter and shortening until creamy. Add to yeast mixture. Blend in sour cream and vanilla. Slowly add flour and make a soft dough, kneading by hand. Make into a large bowl and refrigerate overnight. Take a small portion of dough (keep the rest in the refrigerator) and roll out very thin on a powdered sugar pastry cloth. Cut into 2 inch squares. Put 1 teaspoon of apricot filling in center of square and pinch two opposite corners together. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake in 350 oven for 10-12 minutes. When cool, sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Apricot Filling:
8 ounces dried apricots
1-1/2 cups water
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch

Wash apricots. Combine apricots and water; cook until soft, about 1/2 hour, stirring constantly to keep from scorching. Stir in sugar and cornstarch and cook for one minute. Cool. Use a teaspoonful of filling for each square. Makes 8 dozen. Freeze well.

From Saint Mark’s Church cookbook.