Frozen friendship cakes become real timesavers

Dear Heloise: I bake friendship cakes (Bundt) for church and friends, and usually bake four at a time, cover them in foil and freeze. The day before I need it, I take one out of the freezer and cut it into slices while frozen. Then I frost the cake and put it into a carrier. Estelle R. Holley, Dallas

Your idea would work great for any cake baked in tube pans, or for a flat, one-layer Texas sheet cake. Here’s a fun one to try as a sheet cake. Cherry Surprise is a delicious recipe that you can make by following these easy directions:

Cream together 2 sticks butter or margarine and 2 cups sugar. Beat 3 eggs and add into above ingredients. Mix in 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 2 teaspoons almond extract and 1 pint sour cream. Then add 3 cups flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda and 1‚Ñ2 teaspoon salt, and mix. Last, stir in 1 cup chopped maraschino cherries and 11‚Ñ2 cups chopped nuts.

Bake in a greased-and-floured tube pan at 325 degrees for about 1 to 11‚Ñ2 hours.

To make the icing: Mix together powdered sugar, cherry juice and a drop of vanilla. I have this recipe and a bunch of other unusual cake recipes in my six-page pamphlet that you can have by sending $3 and a long, self-addressed, stamped (59 cents) envelope to: Heloise/Cake, P.O. Box 795001, San Antonio, TX 78279-5001. FYI: A quick, easy icing can be made by placing marshmallows on the cake before taking it out of the oven. Or spread on some jam or jelly for a fruity icing on a plain cake. Heloise

Dear Heloise: When the last pickle is taken out of the jar, I slice a cucumber (that I have scored with a fork) into 1‚Ñ4-inch slices and drop them in the jar. Sometimes I add a little more vinegar if they are kosher or dill, and even some dill weed. The jar goes back into the refrigerator, and in a day, we have cucumber crisps! They get a little lumpy after a few days, so eat them up! Annie B., Baltimore

Dear Heloise: Squeezing a lemon half without getting pits in the dish is cumbersome. I put the lemon half into a sandwich bag, poke holes through the bag into the cut half and — voil ° — the juice can be squeezed out without getting your hands wet. Use the lemon half in the garbage disposal. Christa from Maine

Dear Heloise: Here’s a hint I use to prevent the metal lids on acidic foods (salsa, pickles, etc.) from breaking down and leaching into the food. After opening a jar, I cut a piece of plastic larger than the lid and put it under the lid before I screw it back on. K.E., via e-mail

X Send a money-saving or timesaving hint to Heloise, P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, TX 78279-5000, or you can fax it to (210) HELOISE or e-mail it to Heloise@Heloise.com.

King Features Syndicate