Days 356 & 357: Prosciutto & Linguine Frittatas and Italian Cream Cake

 Today we had an "appetizer" gathering for a belated Christmas party with Randy's side of the family. (The crazy side of the family--see photo above.) ;)  Then my parents came over in the evening for dinner and Randy's birthday, so I was up at the crack of dawn preparing food.  I made 2 appetizers and a dessert for our Christmas party and then we had a roasted chicken with mashed potatoes and broccoli au gratin for dinner.  His birthday cake this year was an Italian Cream Cake. Sunday (Day 357) was another busy day and it was a "leftover" day food-wise. :)
The appetizers I made for the party were (once again) my jalapeno poppers and these prosciutto & linguine frittatas...

Prosciutto & Linguine Frittatas (Giada De Laurentiis)
1/2 lb linguine
7 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup mascarpone cheese
6 oz diced prosciutto
5 oz mozzarella cheese, diced
1/2 cup freshly grated Asiago cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 garlic cloves, minced
salt, pepper, nutmeg

Cook the linguine in a large pan of boiling salted water for about 8-10 minutes to al dente.  Drain in a colander and use kitchen shears to cut the pasta into smaller pieces.  You should have about 3 cups of pasta in the end.
Preheat the oven to 375*.  In a blender or food processor, combine the eggs, milk, cream, and mascarpone.  Pulse until well combined.  Transfer the mixture into a large bowl and add the cut pasta, the prosciutto, mozzarella, Asiago, parsley, garlic, salt, pepper, and a dash of nutmeg.  Stir the ingredients to mix thoroughly. 
Spray a couple muffin tins with cooking spray.  Fill the muffin cups so the mixture comes about to the top.  Bake for about 30-35 minutes.  Allow them to cool a few minutes before removing from the pan.

I let Abby look through a recipe book of holiday desserts that I have so she could pick what kind of dessert to make for our Christmas gathering.  She picked out an arrangement of cupcakes in the shape of a Christmas tree.  Together we made chocolate cupcakes from scratch with vanilla buttercream frosting.  Here is our creation:

Special Note: We had an "ugly sweater" contest which is why Randy's shirt has a giant bow on it!

Italian Cream Cake (Ree Drummond)
I sometimes struggle to come up with a cake design for a grown man.  Most elegant cakes are kind of girly--I don't want to give Randy a birthday cake with flowers all over it.  I like the birthday cake to somewhat represent the person they're for.  Last year Randy requested a chocolate chip cake with chocolate frosting for his party.  That was perfect because the chocolate frosting with white icing designs looked great and wasn't "girly" at all!  This year, I decided to do this Italian Cream Cake because it required literally no design.  It's more about the flavor and architecture of the cake.  And since Randy's Italian, it was the perfect fit!

5 eggs, separated
1 stick butter
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup sugar
1 TB vanilla
1 cup sweetened coconut
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup buttermilk
Frosting:
16 oz cream cheese, softened
1 stick butter
2 tsp vanilla
2 lbs powdered sugar
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup sweetened coconut
1 1/2 pints fresh blueberries

Preheat the oven to 350*.  Butter and flour 2 round cake pans.  Beat the egg whites until stiff and set aside.  In a large bowl, cream together the butter, oil, and sugar until light and fluffy.  Mix in the egg yolks, vanilla and coconut.
In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking soda and baking powder.  Alternate adding the buttermilk and dry ingredients to the wet ingredients.  Mix until just combined, then fold in the egg whites.
Pour evenly into the prepared cake pans and bake about 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Remove from oven and allow to cool for 15 minutes.  Then turn the cakes out onto cooling racks and allow to cool completely.
For the frosting, beat the cream cheese, butter, vanilla, and powdered sugar until well combined.  Mix in the pecans and coconut.
To assemble, cut each layer of cake in half lengthwise so you are left with 4 layers.  Spread the first layer with frosting and top with blueberries.  Repeat the cake, frosting, and blueberry layers until you have 4 layers of cake.

 

For a fun drink with dessert, I made pomegranate bellinis.  To make, simply combine 1 cup of pomegranate juice, 1 cup of cranberry juice, and 1 cup of simple syrup with 1 bottle of champagne.  Mix and pour into champagne flutes garnished with pomegranate seeds, lemon slices, and mint leaves.  Cheers to Randy!

Merry Belated-Christmas & Happy New Year from this Ugly-Sweater Rockin' Family to Yours!