Orange Crush Cake

Before Corbyn came into our family I didn’t like ‘orange’ anything, while pregnant with him, and all of our boys, I loved everything ‘orange’ so I tried this cake… it did not disappoint!

Ingredients:

1 Box White/Yellow Cake Mix (baked as directed)

1 sm pkg Orange Jello Mix

1 C boiling Water

1 C Orange Crush Pop (or any orange soda)

1 sm pkg Vanilla Pudding (made as directed) 

1 sm (4oz) pkg Cool Whip

Bake cake in a 9x13 baking dish as directed on the box. As soon as it is out of the oven poke holes in the cake with a fork. In a separate bowl mix the jello mix, and boiling water until jello is dissolved, mix in orange soda. Pour soda mixture over warm cake. Let cake cool one hour.

After vanilla pudding is made, carefully fold in the cool whip. ‘Ice’ cake with cool whip mixture. Place in the fridge for 2 or more hours before serving. Enjoy! 

Aunt Shirley's Toffee

Writing this up makes me a little sad. The first time I wrote this up Aunt Shirley was still making these toffees every year for everyone… she is now gone. These are amazing! 

She actually wrote out the recipe for me at my wedding shower. ❤️

1 C Butter

1 Can Sweetened Condensed Milk

1 C Light Corn Syrup (Karo/Lily)

2 1/4 C Brown Sugar

1 tsp Vanilla

Melt butter and other ingredients, cook on medium heat stirring CONSTANTLY. Cook until medium to hard ball, add 1 tsp of vanilla. Pour into a greased pan. Cut and wrap. 

Notes: 

I let the sugar mixture get to 243 degrees and the toffee consistency turned out perfectly.

I greased a cookie sheet so that the toffees would come out easier, however my standard sized cookie sheet was too big for this recipe, so I propped up the sheet a bit to make at least some of the toffees thicker. Next time I’ll use a smaller sheet.

Kool Aid Popcorn

 Other than my dad of course, my all time favorite teacher was grade three with Mrs. Schow. She was funny, but more importantly for my little grade three heart, she made us food all the time! She made us rice crispy squares, rainbow jello, melt in your mouth cookies, and this stuff!! This year I used it as Dr Seuss Popcorn! 

​Ingredients:

2 C Sugar

1 C Light Corn Syrup

2/3 C Butter

2 pkgs Koolaid 

12 C Popped Popcorn 

​Method: 

Spread the popcorn evenly over a cookie sheet. Boil the sugar, syrup, and butter together for three minutes. Stir in soda and Koolaid. Pour sugar mixture over popcorn. 

Bake in a 225 degree oven for 45 minutes, stirring popcorn every 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and break up immediately. 

*I halved the recipe for four different kinds of Koolaid and when mixed all together it made a huge bowl! 

Movie Theater Popcorn

 1/4 C Orange Coconut Oil Butter

1 tsp Salt (Todd doesn't like the full tsp, so we do just less that a full tsp)

3/4 C Popcorn 

​

Place all ingredients into the movie theater popcorn maker, and turn it on. So Good! 

Kaleen's Caramel Sauce

 

I looked for a caramel sauce I didn't burn for years! Kaleen finally found a winner! melting the butter on top helps a bit with crystallization! 

Ingredients

1 cup (207g) granulated sugar

1/2 cup (120ml) water

1/4 cup (56g) unsalted butter

1/2 cup (120ml) heavy whipping cream

1/2 tbsp vanilla extract

1/2 to 1 tsp salt

Method

1. In a medium to large sauce pan, combine the granulated sugar and water. I add the water first and slowly add the sugar to try and keep the sauce from crystallizing. Cook over medium-low heat until the sugar is completely dissolved, about 3 to 5 minutes. Add the butter and let it melt

2. Over medium heat, bring the mixture to a boil. STOP whisking and DON'T whisk at all during this part to help avoid crystallization. Allow to boil until the mixture turns a deep golden copper color, about 10-15 minutes, maybe longer depending on your stove. Keep an eye on it, but do not stir. If needed, you can occasionally tip the pan from side to side to help things cook evenly.

3. Remove the pan from the heat and immediately add in the heavy whipping cream in a slow, steady stream. The caramel will bubbly up quite a bit, so be careful with this step. Whisk quickly and well as you add the cream, whisking until well combined.

4. Add the vanilla extract and half a teaspoon of salt and whisk to combine. Add additional salt to your desired saltiness.

5. Allow the caramel sauce to cool. It will be fairly thin, but will thicken as it cools. Store it in the fridge for up to two weeks.