Chocolate No-Bake Cookies
13/4 cups sugar
4 tablespoons baking cocoa
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
a pinch of salt
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 cup peanut butter
3 cups quick 1-minute oats
Carefully measure out the sugar and baking cocoa into a saucepan and mix well. Slowly stir in the milk and blend well with the sugar mixture. Next, add the butter by cutting it with a knife into tablespoon-sized pats. Add a pinch of salt. Turn the burner on medium heat and stir frequently until mixture boils. Let mixture boil for two full minutes while stirring and then remove from heat. Add the vanilla and stir. Finally, add the peanut butter and oats and mix until well blended. Drop by rounded teaspoons onto a sheet of wax paper and cool. Makes about two dozen.
Strawberry Cake
Cake
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
11/2 cups white sugar
1 (3 oz.) package strawberry-flavored gelatin
4 eggs, room temperature
21/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
21/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup whole milk, room temperature
1/2 cup strawberry puree made from frozen unsweetened strawberries
1 tablespoon vanilla
Take eggs, milk, and butter out of the refrigerator a few hours before making the batter.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 9-inch round pans or one 9 x 13 pan.
In a large bowl, combine the butter, sugar, and strawberry gelatin. Mix on medium speed until light and fluffy. Separate the eggs; add the yolks to the batter and mix well. Whip the egg whites vigorously until soft peaks form before mixing them into the batter.
Sift flour, then measure and put into a separate bowl. Combine the baking powder with the sifted flour. Alternate adding the flour mixture and milk to the batter, mixing with each addition.
Use the blender to make a strawberry puree from a bag of frozen unsweetened strawberries. Add a little bit of water and blend until smooth. Add 1/2 cup puree to the batter along with the vanilla and mix well. Pour batter into prepared pans. For round pans, bake 25 to 30 minutes, for a 9 x 13, bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. If you’re making a layered cake, allow the cakes to cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes before removing them from the pans to cool completely.
Frosting
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 cups powdered sugar
Mix butter on low until fluffy. Add cream cheese and vanilla and mix for one minute. Add powdered sugar one cup at a time, mixing thoroughly. When all powdered sugar has been added, whip the frosting on high for 30 seconds to make it nice and smooth. Spread onto cooled cake. Top with sliced strawberries, if desired.
acknowledgments
A huge thank-you to Nathalie Dion for creating such fantastic art for this book as well as for It’s Raining Cupcakes and Sprinkles and Secrets. You’ve done an amazing job, and every time I look at the covers, I feel like I’ve won the cover lottery.
Thanks to Mary Hays, a fan of the first two books, who wrote to me and helped me come up with the title of this book. It’s perfect!
Thanks to the amazing team at Aladdin for all your hard work and support: Bethany Buck, Mara Anastas, Fiona Simpson, Lydia Finn, Karin Paprocki, Karina Granda, Julie Doebler, Katherine Devendorf, Andrea Kempfer, and Alyson Heller. Cupcakes for all!
A special shout-out to Jen and Katie Manullang for your support from the very beginning of this cupcake-filled journey.
Thank you to Sara Gundell for so many things, but especially for featuring my books on your blog and working your magic to get me on TV.
To the librarians and booksellers, thanks for all you do to get books into the hands of readers.
PHOTO BY KEENE STUDIO
Lisa Schroeder is also the author of It’s Raining Cupcakes and Sprinkles and Secrets, both with Aladdin, and the teen books I Heart You, You Haunt Me; Far from You; Chasing Brooklyn; The Day Before; and Falling for You, all with Simon Pulse. She lives in Oregon, where she wishes cupcakes fell from the sky instead of raindrops.
Aladdin
SIMON & SCHUSTER, NEW YORK
Meet the author, watch videos, and get extras at
KIDS.SimonandSchuster.com
ALSO BY LISA SCHROEDER
It’s Raining Cupcakes
Sprinkles and Secrets
I Heart You, You Haunt Me
Far from You
Chasing Brooklyn
The Day Before
Falling for You
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division
1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020
www.SimonandSchuster.com
First Aladdin hardcover edition September 2013
Text copyright © 2013 by Lisa Schroeder
Jacket illustrations and interior spot illustrations copyright © 2013 by Nathalie Dion
Jacket design by Karina Granda
Jacket Designed by Karin Paprocki
Jacket Illustrations by Nathalie Dion
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.
ALADDIN is a trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc., and related logo is a registered trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
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Interior design by Karin Paprocki and Karina Granda
The text of this book was set in Mrs Eaves.
Full CIP data is available from the Library of Congress.
ISBN 978-1-4424-7396-6
ISBN 978-1-4424-7398-0 (eBook)