Ribbon Sandwhiches

I had to copy a friends post for these sandwhiches, they were seriously so good. Thanks Miranda! She served these at her son's first birthday party and now they are on the menu for my baby shower ha!

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WARNING!! Eaters discretion is advised. Recipe may cause over eating....


2 loaves of bread sliced horizontally. (this can be ordered from most bakeries, just ask for ribbon sandwich bread)

Cream cheese filling:
8 oz package of cream cheese softened
1 1/4 cups crushed pineapple drained slightly
1/4 cup sugar

Combine and mix well

Chicken Salad Filling

4 cups cooked chicken shredded
1 cup celery finely minced
1/3 cup yellow onions finely minced
1/2 tsp salt
pepper to taste
1 Cup Mayonnaise

Combine ingredients and stir until well blended

Using 3 slices of bread, spread cream cheese on bottom layer, then next layer of bread, spread with a small amount of mayo, then cover layer with chicken mixture. Then add top layer of bread spreading top and bottom with mayonnaise. (We only did mayo on one side of the bread, but you can do what you want!) If desired top with paprika and dry parsley flakes. Trim crust on all 4 sides and slice each loaf into 12 sandwiches. Should have 24 sandwiches.

Red Velvet Cake/Cupcakes

I've been looking for a great Red Velvet recipe for awhile and I think I have found a winner... for now. The texture is light and perfect and the cake is not too sweet. I'm still working on the frosting, the one I made from Paula Deen is super sweet, but much too cream cheesy and rich for my liking. Tastes like what you would put on cinnamon rolls. I can't wait until the holidays so I can make a full on cake, I just halved the recipe and made a dozen cupcakes for the test run.

I'll post the frosting recipe for kicks but I think I know what needs to be done to lighten it up a bit.

Red Velvet Cake/Cupcakes
Adapted from Paula Deen's recipe

2 1/2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp cocoa
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 cup oil (can be partially or fully substituted with plain yogurt, sour cream, or applesauce but that may affect the texture a bit)
2 eggs, separated
1 1/2 cups buttermilk (I used fat free milk plus 1 Tbsp. vinegar)
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 oz. red food coloring (all I had was pink and I didn't add that much so mine were more rose colored)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Combine in a large bowl flour, sugar, salt, cocoa and soda. Sift or whisk together and place aside.

Separate the egg whites from the yolks, beat whites until soft peaks form (about a couple minutes) Place the whites aside.
In a medium owl blend oil, egg yolks, buttermilk, vanilla. Slowly blend (or hand mix) into flour mixture until just blended. Do not over mix. Mixture should be not too thick and not too runny either. Gently fold in the egg whites until just blended.

For a cake bake in 3 8-inch round greased and floured cake pans for 20-25 minutes, check with a toothpick.
For cupcakes bake for 18 - 20 minutes. Will make 2 dozen
Cool completely before frosting.

(I omitted the coconut and pecans and just a note to self I believe it can be lightened up with a flour and milk sauce and less conf. sugar)
Frosting:

1 8-ounce package cream cheese
1 stick butter softened
2 cups melted marshmallows (or fluff)
1 (1-pound) box confectioners' sugar
1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup chopped pecans

Blend cream cheese and butter together in a mixing bowl. Add marshmallows and sugar and blend. Fold in coconut and nuts. Spread between layers and on top and sides of cooled cake.