Sunday Dinner (again....but on Monday)

I love the company that Joel works for: Reach Workcamps International. Not only do I love what they do, but I love the people he works with, too. Mike, the big boss, is one of the most awesome men of God I have ever met. Paulie, well, Paulie and I liked each other from the very minute we met! ;-) Last summer, I had the pleasure of meeting Neil and Heather in West Virginia - both awesome, and this past July, I finally met the last piece of the puzzle, Annie. I loved Annie as much as everyone else on full-time staff. Have I mentioned how much I love these people? There is only one thing about them that I do not like: They are all in Colorado. And they have my boy out there, too.
Dear Mike,
Please move the entire Reach operation to the east coast. It would make me happy. That should be reason enough.
Love,
Cyndee

Anyway..... after a youth conference in Atlanta, Joel and Annie flew up to NJ together. Joel for Thanksgiving and Annie to visit NYC. They had tickets to see "Wicked" on Broadway, so they spent Tuesday in the big apple. When they arrived here on Monday, I wanted to welcome them with a nice, big home-cooked meal. Tara and Joel had visited in Georgia, and she mentioned pineapple stuffing to him, so he requested it as part of his meal. I decided to repeat the meal from my "Sunday Dinner" post, with changes to the green bean casserole. I reduced the bread crumbs and put in slightly more cream and it was super-delicious this time.(Oh, I also used minced onion instead of fresh but, it's better with fresh.) The one change I made to the dinner was the dessert. Instead of doing the bundt cake again, I made a cake recipe that is NOT in Rebecca's cookbook. It is one I cut out of a magazine years ago and made for the first time when Mike came to visit while on the east coast, so it is now my official, "Whenever a Reach staffer comes to visit" dessert!
Here is the recipe:
Divine Chocolate Raspberry Sour Cream Cake
1 pkg. Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe Devil's Food cake mix
1/4 cup water
1/3 cup vegetabel oil
4 large eggs
2 cups sour cream, divided usage
1 tub Duncan Hines Creamy home-style cream cheese frosting, divided usage
1/2 cup seedless red raspberry jam
2 tubs (I only use one)Duncan Hines Creamy home-style classic chocolate frosting
fresh raspberries, optional
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 2 8-inch round pans (I used the Pam baking spray, at Shannon's suggestion. Awesome!)
2. Blend cake mix, water, oil, eggs and 1 cup sour cream in large bowl. Beat at low speed until moistened (about 30 seconds). Beat at medium speed for 2 minutes. Pour into pans. Bake and cool cake according to package directions.
3. To assemble, place 1 cake layer on serving plater. Spread 3/4 cup cream cheese frosting on top of layer. Spread jam on top of cream cheese frosting. Top with remaining layer. Frost top and sides of cake with chocolate frosting.
4. To prepare sauce, blend remaining cream cheese frosting and 1 cup sour cream in a small bowl until smooth and creamy. Garnish top of frosted cake with 2-3 tbsp. of sauce in center and fresh raspberries. Place 2 tbsp. sauce on center of each serving plate and top with a slice (cut thin slices, this baby is RICH!)of cake. Garnish with fresh raspberries if desired.
For a different twist, try other seedless jams such as cherry, strawberry or blackberry.

Thanks for visiting, Annie! And thanks for complimenting my cooking! I know you had heard I was a good cook....;-)