Frosting and Friendship Read online

  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.

  Finally, thank you to all you young readers who have enjoyed my books and told your friends about them. Your enthusiasm makes me over-the-moon happy, and I want you to know I appreciate you more than words can say. Keep reading!

  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.

  The Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau can bring authors to your live event.

  For more information or to book an event contact the Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau at 1-866-248-3049 or visit our website at www.simonspeakers.com.

  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)